THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 


Estate  of  Evalyn  Thomas 


THE    €1VH>    MARRIAGE    BETWEKN 

PRINCE    JEROME    AND    PRINCESS    CATHERINE 

WAS    PERFORMED    WITH    GREAT    POMP 

IN     THE    DIANA    GALLERY, 

AT    THE    Tl^lLERIES    PALACE 

— p.   177 
Protn,  Die  pointing  hpj.  B.  Recinault 


MEMOIRS    O  F 
NAPOLEON    BO  NAP ARTE 

The   Court   of  the    First    Umpire 

BV    BAKON    C-F    DE    MENEVAL 
His    Priz-ate    Secretary 

\'  O  L  U  M  E     II 


With   a    Special   Introduction 
and   Illustrations 


N  t  W    Y  O  K  K 

P     F     Li)  I.  I.  1  1.  R     &     SON 

HUUI.  ISHKKS 


Copyright  1910 
By  p.  F.  Collier  &  Son 


MEMOIRS   OF 
NAPOLEON    I. 

CHAPTER   VI 

I  USED  to  take  an  hour's  horse  exercise  every  day, 
as  much  for  amusement  as  for  the  sake  of  exer- 
cise. I  felt  more  than  ever  the  need  of  some 
assistance,  and  I  asked  the  Emperor  to  give  me  a 
companion.  The  idea  then  came  to  him  to  create  two 
posts  of  Secretary  to  the  Cabinet,  and  he  appointed 
General  Clarke — who,  now  that  the  death  of  the  King 
of  Etruria  had  closed  his  mission  to  this  prince,  was 
without  emplo}'ment — to  one  of  these  places.  The 
Emperor  appearing  to  neglect  him,  Clarke  followed 
him  step  by  step  during  his  journey  in  Alsatia,  placing 
himself  before  him  each  time  that  he  had  the  oppor- 
tunity of  recalling  himself  to  his  memory.  On  his 
return  from  this  short  journey,  the  Emperor  told  me 
that,  not  wishing  to  interrupt  the  unity  of  the  work  of 
his  private  work-room,  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
charge  the  general  with  the  title  of  Secretary  to  the 
Cabinet,  with  a  special  class  of  work,  viz.,  his  corre- 
spondence with  the  Ministers  of  War  and  Marine ; 
and  that  this  would  be  a  notable  reduction  of  my 
day's  work.  General  Clarke  was  accordingly  estab- 
lished in  a  private  oftice.  But  the  necessity  of  sending 
for  him  to  write  to  his  ministers  often  kept  the  Em- 
peror back  from  making  use  of  his  services;  in  one 
word,  the  jx^st  degenerated  into  a  sinecure.  The  sec- 
ond post  of  Secretary  to  the  Cabinet  was  also  vacant 

A— Memoirs  4iy  Vul.  7 


1054G38 


420  MEMOIRS    OF 

when  the  1805  campaign  took  place.  General  Clarke, 
who  followed  the  Emperor  in  this  campaign  with  me, 
was  appointed  governor  of  Vienna.  He  was  en- 
trusted with  several  missions  abroad  after  this  cam- 
paign, and  his  post  as  Secretary  to  the  Cabinet  re- 
mained as  unoccupied  as  the  second  post. 

The  assistance  which  it  had  been  the  Emperor's 
intention  to  give  me  was  accordingly  only  an  illusory 
one.  Another  year  passed  without  any  change  being 
made  in  the  work  in  the  cabinet.  I  repeated  my  ap- 
plication to  Napoleon  to  obtain  an  assistant.  What  I 
needed  above  all  was  to  be  relieved  of  the  care  of  the 
papers  which  had  to  be  classified  after  having  been 
answered.  The  multiplicity  of  my  occupations  pre- 
vented me  from  keeping  these  papers  in  sufficiently 
good  order  to  be  able  to  find  any  draft  of  a  letter  or 
a  despatch  which  the  Emperor  might  want  to  see  at 
a  moment's  notice.  Napoleon  avoided  satisfying  my 
request  for  some  time  longer,  either  by  making  prom- 
ises which  he  did  not  keep,  or  on  various  pretexts. 
He  used  to  urge  me  to  get  married,  assuring  me  that 
he  would  arrange  my  work  in  such  a  manner  that  I 
should  get  some  rest.  Various  matches  were  proposed 
to  me  by  him  and  the  Empress  Josephine,  including 
a  lady  who  was  one  of  her  relations,  and  whom  she 
obliged  me  to  call  upon  at  her  house.  But  at  that 
time  I  did  not  feel  any  vocation  for  marriage.  Be- 
sides, I  was  determined  that  if  I  ever  did  make  up  my 
mind  to  get  married  I  would  choose  my  own  wife. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  more  than  two  years  passed  be- 
fore I  contracted  the  irrevocable  bonds,  the  solemnity 
of  which  so  impressed  me.  Seeing  that  the  Emperor 
put  off  keeping  his  promise  every  day,  I  became  dis- 
couraged and  fell  ill,  as  much  from  worry  as  from 
overwork.  On  hearing  this  news  the  Emperor  showed 
his  solicitude  and  sent  me  Doctor  Corvisart,  who  was 


NAPOLEON  I.  421 

charged  with  a  kind  message.  Pending  my  recovery 
he  sent  for  the  Empress's  private  secretary.  M.  Des- 
champs  was  one  of  our  most  agreeable  vaudeville 
writers;  he  was  still  capable  of  more  serious  work, 
and  lively  and  brisk,  though  past  middle  life.  Napo- 
leon despaired  from  the  very  first  of  being  able  to 
accustom  him  to  his  way  of  working,  and  especially  to 
writing  from  his  dictation.  He  employed  General 
Duroc,  the  aide-de-camp  on  service,  and  tlie  Secretary 
of  State  in  turn.  During  my  short  illness  I  was  to 
some  extent  in  the  position  of  the  man  who  while  yet 
alive  reads  an  obituary  notice  of  himself,  written  by 
some  friendly  pen  at  the  news  of  his  death.  1  heard 
that  when  the  person  to  whom  the  Emperor  was  dic- 
tating did  not  take  down  his  words  sufficiently  quick- 
ly the  Emperor  would  cry  out :  "  I  cannot  repeat.  You 
make  me  lose  the  thread  of  my  thought.  Where  is 
Meneval?"  Pointing  to  the  disorder  on  his  writing- 
table  he  would  cry  out:  "  If  I  had  Meneval  here,  I 
should  soon  have  cleared  all  that  away.  He  also  used 
to  say  that  he  was  postponing  all  work  of  importance 
until  after  my  recovery.  As  a  matter  of  fact  my  en- 
tire merit  consisted  in  the  acquaintance  I  had  with  the 
connection  and  direction  of  Napoleon's  affairs,  in  the 
way  that  thanks  to  this  knowledge  I  was  able  to  fore- 
see their  development  and  issue,  and  in  my  familiarity 
with  the  connection  of  his  ideas,  with  the  precision 
of  his  style,  and  with  the  originality  of  his  expres- 
sions. I  did  not  know  any  kind  of  shorthand,  and 
so  would  have  been  unable  to  take  down  the  Emper- 
or's words  literally;  but  I  used  to  note  down  the  prin- 
cipal points  which  served  as  memoranda  and  also  the 
characteristic  expressions.  I  used  to  rewrite  the  let- 
ters in  almost  the  same  terms  as  he  had  used,  and 
when  he  read  it  over  before  signing  it,  which  only 
happened  when  it  was  a  delicate  matter,  or  one  which 


422  MEMOIRS  OF 

pre-occupied  him,  he  used  to  find  his  own  style  in  my 
writing — if  I  may  use  that  expression.  Those  who 
have  followed  the  details  of  the  work  done  in  the  im- 
perial cabinet  for  sutficient  time,  or  who  made  them- 
selves acquainted  with  Napoleon's  method  of  work, 
have  been  in  a  position  to  verify  the  truth  of  what  I 
have  related. 

I  confess  that  my  vanity  was  flattered  by  the  re- 
ports which  I  heard,  and  the  idea  that  the  Emperor  at- 
tached importance  to  my  assistance  and  my  work  soon 
restored  me  to  strength  and  courage.  When  I  reap- 
peared in  his  cabinet  after  four  days,  I  may  say  with- 
out boasting  that  I  was  received  with  pleasure.  I 
found  Napoleon  kinder  to  me  than  ever.  He  author- 
ized me  to  mention  somebody  to  him  as  assistant, 
adding  that  he  left  this  choice  entirely  to  my  personal 
responsibility.  M.  Maret — the  Due  de  Bassano — 
who  used  to  accompany  the  Emperor  on  his  journeys 
as  Secretary  of  State,  was  succeeded  by  one  of  his 
heads  of  departments  with  whom  I  was  in  relations 
by  reason  of  my  service.  I  knew  him  as  a  man 
trained  to  business  by  the  knowledge  which  his  duties 
at  the  State-secretaryship  had  given  him  of  the  various 
acts  of  the  government.  I  further  knew  him  to  be 
a  very  industrious  man  and  honest  to  a  degree.  Be- 
fore approaching  him  on  this  subject  I  wished  to  have 
the  opinion  of  M.  Maret,  who  strongly  encouraged 
me  in  the  idea  which  I  had  had  of  suggesting  the 
name  of  M.  Fain  to  the  Emperor,  offering  himself  as 
bondsman.  I  accordingly  asked  the  minister  to  back 
up  my  suggestion  in  favour  of  his  subordinate.  M. 
Fain  was  accepted.  As  far  as  I  was  concerned,  I  was 
delighted  with  this  arrangement  and  as  to  M.  Fain,  I 
never  saw  a  happier  man.  He  embraced  me  with 
tears  of  joy  and  gratitude.  The  Emperor  promulgated 
a  decree  under  date  of  February  3rd,   1806,  on  the 


NAPOLEON  T.  423 

new  organization  of  his  cabinet.  By  the  terms  of  tliis 
decree  the  service  of  the  imperial  cabinet  was  entrusted 
to  a  Secretary  of  the  Portfolio,  assisted  by  a  reporter 
on  petitions  and  a  keeper  of  archives.  I  was  appointed 
Secretary  of  the  Portfolio,  and  I  alone  had  to  pre- 
sent for  signature  all  the  notes  or  letters  which  the 
Emperor  had  dictated.  I  alone  had  the  right  to  enter 
into  the  Sovereign's  cabinet.  1  was  entrusted  vvitii 
the  keeping  of  the  keys  of  the  Emperor's  writing-table 
and  portfolios.  If  in  my  absence  the  Emperor  dictated 
any  note  or  letter,  or  had  any  piece  of  work  done,  a 
copy,  or  at  least  a  draft,  of  this  work  had  to  be  handed 
to  me  immediately  on  my  return.  The  reporter  on 
petitions  was  M.  Deschamps,  already  secretary  to  the 
Empress  Josephine,  and  M.  Eain  was  the  keeper  of 
archives.  He  became  later  titular  secretary  to  the  Em- 
peror. Napoleon  had  wished  to  do  something  pleasant 
for  the  Empress  Josephine  and  to  improve  the  posi- 
tion of  her  secretary.  The  kindheartedness  of  this 
princess,  and  her  goodwill  towards  her  people,  are 
well-known.  The  Emperor,  who  always  loved  her 
tenderly,  never  refused  her  anything  that  he  thought 
it  possible  to  grant. 

During  the  first  years  the  papers  connected  with 
affairs  which  the  Emperor  thought  it  advisable  to 
withhold  from  sending  to  the  archives  were  put  into 
a  small  mahogany  box,  which  was  placed  in  the  cabi- 
net. The  key  of  this  box  remained  in  the  hands  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Portfolio.  This  precaution  was 
only  observed  for  two  or  three  years,  at  the  end  of 
which  all  j)apers,  with  very  few  exceptions,  were  im- 
mediately sent  off  to  the  archives. 

The  same  decree  instituted  two  guardians  of  the 
portfolio  who  were  in  attendance  a  fortnight  in  turn. 
They  had  to  wear  a  uniform  and  a  sword,  with  a 
shoulder-belt  of  a  peculiar  design. 


424  MEMOIRS    OF 

I  had  to  wait  some  time  still  for  the  assistance  which 
the  Emperor  had  intended  to  grant  me  in  appointing 
M.  Fain.  The  force  of  habit,  Napoleon's  dislike  to 
increase  the  number  of  people  who  shared  his  confi- 
dence, his  habit  of  acting  on  experience,  fortified  by 
a  prudence  which  was  increased  by  the  importance 
and  the  gravity  of  the  constant  struggle  in  which  he 
was  engaged,  prevented  him  at  first  from  entrusting 
M.  Fain's  talents  and  zeal  with  the  employment  on 
which  we  had  counted.  It  was  only  gradually,  and 
when  the  work  became  too  heavy,  that  he  used  to 
call  M.  Fain  into  his  work-room  to  dictate  to  him, 
after  which  the  secretary  used  to  return  to  his  office 
of  the  archives  to  write  out  his  fair  copy.  The  Em- 
peror accustomed  himself  to  him  gradually.  He  first 
of  all  employed  him  for  dictations  on  questions  of  ad- 
ministration, until  the  time  when  the  breaking-down 
of  my  health  gave  him  freer  access  to  the  cabinet, 
which  after  my  retirement  was  organized  on  a  larger 
basis. 

The  introduction  of  M.  Deschamps  into  the  cabinet 
(reorganized  by  the  decree  of  February,  1806)  led  us 
to  make  the  acquaintance  of  a  number  of  his  colleagues 
of  the  Vaudeville:  MM.  Barre,  Radet,  Desfontaines, 
Despre,  Picard  and  de  Vigny,  an  actor  of  the  Odeon, 
all  people  of  approved  wit  and  talents.  These  gentle- 
men frequently  came  to  luncheon  with  us. 

MM.  Barre,  Radet  and  Desfontaines  were  the  first 
to  think  of  the  collaboration  of  several  authors  in  the 
writing  of  a  theatrical  piece  in  which  a  unity  of  plan, 
idea,  and  action  should  be  preserved.  M.  Deschamps 
obtained  for  this  inseparable  trio — who  together  had 
founded  the  Vaudeville,  a  theatre  on  which  the  glory 
of  France  was  frequently  celebrated  in  patriotic  plays 
— a  pension  of  four  thousand  francs  apiece  from  the 
funds  reserved  for  the  press  fund.     I  am  not  aware 


NAPOLEON    I.  425 

whether  the  authors  continued  to  enjoy  this  favour 
under  the  government  of  the  Restoration. 

In  die  burst  of  his  gratitude  one  of  the  new  pension- 
ers cried  out : 

"  O  Vaudeville,  heureuz  d'avoir  dans  tes  domaines, 

Des  champs!" 
•To  which  Deschamps,  in  his  modesty,  suggested  that 
he  should  add: 

"Des  pres  et  des  fontaines!" 

This  anecdote  reminds  me  that  a  man  of  letters  who 
had  been  received  at  La  Malmaison,  and  who  had  had 
one  of  his  tragedies  played  on  the  Court  stage,  ob- 
tained a  pension  of  six  thousand  francs  from  the  Em- 
peror. At  the  time  of  the  Restoration  this  braggart 
of  a  poet  said,  speaking  of  Napoleon:  "  The  devil  of 
a  fellow!  As  soon  as  he  saw  somebody  in  a  crowd 
whose  head  topped  those  of  the  others — bang!  he  dis- 
graced him  with  a  pension." 

Now  it  happened  that  the  minister  who  at  that  time 
disposed  of  pensions  and  pardons,  reduced  the  pension 
of  our  man  of  letters  to  three  thousand  francs.  In 
consequence  of  this  his  friends  made  haste  to  congrat- 
ulate him  on  the  fact  that  the  Restoration  had  effaced 
half  of  his  stain. 

The  interest  which  the  Emperor  took  in  the  pros- 
perity of  commerce  and  industry  induced  him  to  visit 
an  establishment  which  at  that  time  was  at  its  highest 
prosperity.  This  was  the  calico-factory  which  M. 
Oberkampf  had  established  at  Jouy  in  the  Bievre 
vallev.  Napoleon  went  there  one  day  in  the  summer 
of  1806.  accompanied  by  Josephine,  and  followed  by 
a  part  of  the  court.  He  invested  this  visit  with  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  importance.  He  went  through  the  va- 
rious work-rooms,  and  examined  the  various  processes 
of  manufacture  with  attention,  desired  to  be  informed 


426  MEMOIRS    OF 

of  all  Its  details,  and  even  went  into  the  meadow 
where  the  calicoes  were  spread  out.  The  Emperor 
expressed  his  satisfaction  to  the  modest  author  of  this 
fine  establishment.  Then,  looking  at  him  with  greater 
attention,  he  showed  his  surprise  at  the  fact  that  M. 
Oberkampf  had  not  yet  been  decorated  with  the  Le- 
gion of  Honour.  Then  unfastening  the  cross  which  he 
wore  in  his  button-hole,  Napoleon  handed  it  to  the 
manufacturer,  saying:  "Here  is  my  cross.  I  am 
pleased  with  what  I  have  seen.  I  like  to  reward  ser- 
vices of  all  kinds  to  the  motherland.  Peaceful  war 
made  against  the  enemy  in  your  workshop  is  no  less 
efficacious  than  the  war  waged  on  battle-fields." 

During  the  month  of  March,  1806,  orders  had  been 
given  to  the  Ministers  of  War  and  of  the  War  Admin- 
istration to  assign  the  places  to  be  occupied  in  France 
by  the  corps  of  the  Grande  Armee.  The  garrisons 
which  they  were  to  hold  were  in  the  2nd,  3rd,  4th, 
5th,  6th,  1 8th,  24th,  25th,  and  26th  military  divisions. 
The  news  that  the  Austrians  had  handed  over  to  the 
Russians  the  mouths  of  the  Cattaro,  which  by  the 
terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Presburg  they  had  promised  to 
surrender  to  France,  suspended  the  surrender  of  the 
fort  of  Braunau  to  the  Austrian  troops,  and  the  move- 
ment of  the  French  army  back  to  the  Rhine.  This 
incident,  which  lasted  some  time,  having  been  termi- 
nated, the  Emperor  confirmed  his  previous  orders  for 
the  return  home  of  our  army.  On  the  22nd  of  June 
he  sent  an  order  to  the  Minister  of  W^ar,  fixing  the 
positions  which  the  various  corps  were  to  occupy, 
modifying  the  first  arrangement,  although  very  few  of 
the  military  divisions  which  had  been  named  were  al- 
tered. The  major-general,  who  had  remained  in  Ger- 
many, was  commissioned  with  the  execution  of  these 
orders.  The  refusal  of  a  ratification  of  the  treaty 
concluded  in  Paris  with  the  Russian  plenipotentiary 


NAPOLEON    I.  427 

d'Oubril;  the  rupture  of  the  negotiations  begun  in 
Paris  with  England;  and  finally  the  armaments  of 
Prussia  caused  all  these  orders  for  the  return  of  the 
troops  to  be  countermanded. 

The  long  stay  of  the  French  troops  in  Germany 
necessarily  formed  the  pretext  for  accusations  of  all 
kinds  against  the  head  of  the  French  Government. 
Libellous  pamphlets,  which  so  greatly  contributed  to- 
wards the  perversion  of  public  opinion  and  towards 
exasperating  Europe  against  France,  began  to  spread, 
and  provoked  the  peoples  of  Germany  to  revolt. 
Booksellers  in  the  principal  towns  occupied  by  the 
French  troops  printed,  published,  and  hawked  these 
libellous  calumnies  against  us.  One  of  them,  Palm, 
a  bookseller  at  Nuremberg,  was  arrested,  tried  by 
court-martial,  and  shot.  The  inflexibility  of  martial 
law  and  the  safety  of  the  army  rendered  this  act  of 
rigour  imperative.  Nevertheless  the  effect  produced 
in  Germany  was  terrible,  and  this  occurrence  brought 
down  on  the  Emperor  fresh  accusations  and  a  fresh 
explosion  of  public  indignation.  Palm  was  honoured 
as  the  martyr  of  the  German  national  spirit.  The 
major-general  had  respited  certain  other  prisoners  who 
had  been  sentenced  to  death  for  the  same  crime.  He 
asked  the  Emperor  to  pardon  them  and  Napoleon 
wrote  at  the  bottom  of  his  letter : 

"Saint-Cloud,  September  4th,  1806. — I  leavG 
Marshal  Berthier  free  to  act  as  he  chooses.  I  find  that 
the  pardons  which  he  asks  for  may  well  be  granted." 

The  exasperation,  however,  which  regained  in  Ber- 
lin, and  the  hostile  preparations  ordered  by  Prussia, 
increased  the  anti-French  agitation.  Prussia,  who  had 
learned  no  lesson  from  the  defeat  of  Austria  and  of 
Russia,  nor  from  the  want  of  success  of  her  bellicose 


428  MEMOIRS    OF 

intentions  in  1805,  entered  the  arena  in  her  turn. 
This  power,  whose  constant  irresolutions  worried  Na- 
poleon during  five  years,  tempted  by  the  French  alli- 
ance, without  definite  political  system  of  any  kind,  but 
secretly  inclining  towards  the  coalition,  finished  by 
throwing  in  her  lot  against  France. 

The  treaty  of  an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance 
w^hich  had  been  signed  at  Vienna,  by  Count  d'Haug- 
witz,  after  the  victory  of  Austerlitz,  ceded  Hanover 
with  other  important  possessions  to  Prussia  in  ex- 
change for  the  margraviate  of  Anspach,  the  principal- 
ity of  Neufchatel,  and  the  duchy  of  Cleves.  Napoleon 
disposed  of  the  margraviate  of  Anspach  in  favour  of 
Bavaria.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  marching 
through  this  territory  by  Bernadotte's  army  had  fur- 
nished Prussia  with  a  pretext  to  manifest  her  animosity 
towards  France.  The  principality  of  Neufchatel  was 
given  to  Marshal  Berthier;  the  duchy  of  Cleves  was 
intended  to  form  part  of  the  grand-duchy  of  Berg  to 
the  sovereignty  of  which  Murat  was  appointed.  The 
balance  of  these  exchanges  was  immensely  in  favour 
of  Prussia,  whom  the  Emperor,  despite  his  well- 
founded  grievances,  wished  to  bind  to  him  in  a  close 
alliance.  Count  d'Haugwitz,  on  his  return  to  Berlin, 
found  the  Anglo-Russian  spirit  predominant  in  the 
King's  councils,  and  the  King  himself  engaged  to  the 
coalition.  The  negotiator  of  the  treaty  of  Vienna  was 
accordingly  blamed,  and  the  King  refused  his  ratifica- 
tion, pure  and  simple,  demanding  that  the  alliance  with 
the  French  Empire  should  be  neither  offensive  nor  de- 
fensive, and  consenting  only  to  occupy  Hanover  tempo- 
rarily, until  the  conclusion  of  peace  between  England 
and  France;  an  event  which  alone  in  his  eyes  could 
justify  Prussia's  acquisition  of  this  Electorate.  Emi- 
nently pacific,  this  monarch  wished  to  combine  an  ap- 
parent friendship  for  France  with  the  maintenance  of 


NAPOLEON    I.  429 

close  relations  with  her  enemies,  a  Hne  of  conduct 
which  could  not  possibly  satisfy  anybody,  and  which 
could  not  fail  to  make  Napoleon  lose  all  confidence 
in  the  good  faith  of  Prussia.  The  Emperor  having 
been  apprised  of  the  hostility  towards  France  which 
reigned  in  Prussia,  sentiments  which  the  King  was 
powerless  to  restrain,  refused  to  consider  the  Prussian 
Ministry  as  other  than  a  hidden  foe.  This  govern- 
ment, not  daring  to  break  off  with  ours,  although  it 
had  torn  up  the  treaty  of  Vienna,  which  was  so  favour- 
able to  Prussia,  had  to  accept  another  treaty  the  clauses 
of  which  were  very  much  less  in  her  favour.  By 
the  terms  of  the  new  stipulations  Prussia  was  forced 
to  accept  the  fee  simple  of  Hanover  (which  for  fear 
of  offending  England  she  had  refused)  ;  and  to  close 
her  harbours  against  the  English  ships — a  clause  which 
involved  Prussia  in  the  loss  of  four  hundred  vessels, 
seized  upon  by  England.  The  exasperation  of  France 
increased  after  the  conclusion  of  this  new  treaty,  but 
was  not  yet  sufficiently  strong  to  break  out.  The  es- 
tablishment of  the  confederation  of  the  Rhine,  from 
which  Napoleon  looked  for  the  support  in  Germany 
which  he  did  not  find  in  Prussia  brought  these  hostile 
feelings,  which  did  not  dare  to  manifest  themselves 
openly,  to  the  highest  degree  of  irritation.  As  a  mat- 
'ter  of  fact  the  Prussian  Government  held  France  re- 
sponsible for  the  loss  of  the  advantages  of  which  it 
had  deprived  itself  by  its  continual  tergiversations. 

Whilst  France  and  Prussia  were  in  this  equivocal 
situation  the  death  of  Mr.  Pitt  made  way  in  the  British 
Ministry  for  Mr.  Fox.  The  new  minister  took  ad- 
vantage of  a  peculiar  occurrence  to  approach  the 
French  Government,  and  to  address  pacific  overtures 
to  France.  An  exile  had  proposed  the  murder  of  Na- 
poleon to  Mr.  Fox.  Mr.  Fox.  indignant  at  such  a 
proposal,  had  brought  it  to  the  Emperor's  knowledge. 


430  MEMOIRS    OF 

A  correspondence  ensued.  Lord  Yarmouth,  who  hap- 
pened to  be  in  France,  where  he  was  detained  with 
the  rest  of  the  Enghsh  travellers  who  were  arrested 
on  French  territory  at  the  time  of  the  rupture  of  the 
peace  of  Amiens,  and  whose  release  was  obtained  by 
Mr.  Fox,  acted  as  intermediary  between  the  two  gov- 
ernments. The  English  Cabinet  having  expressed  the 
wish  to  negotiate  in  agreement  with  Russia,  this  pro- 
posal was  evaded,  and  it  was  agreed  upon  that  a  Rus- 
sian agent  should  be  sent  direct  to  Paris.  This  agent, 
M.  d'Oubril,  concluded  a  separate  agreement  with 
France.  The  negotiation  with  England  was  taking  a 
favourable  turn ;  it  had  been  stipulated  that  she  should 
retain  possession  of  Malta  and  of  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and  should  surrender  all  the  other  colonies. 
One  of  the  principal  difficulties,  the  maintenance  of 
King  Ferdinand  of  Sicily,  would  have  been  smoothed 
over,  although  the  union  of  Malta  and  Sicily  in  the 
hands,  or  under  the  influence,  of  England  had  grave 
disadvantages,  because  the  negotiations  were  inspired 
with  good  faith  on  both  sides.  In  the  course  of  these 
negotiations  the  French  Government  had  even  under- 
taken, apart  from  the  relinquishing  of  Malta,  to  consent 
to  restore  Hanover  to  England,  without  consulting 
Prussia,  this  power  having  shown  that  she  attached 
but  little  value  to  this  possession.  An  equivalent,  and' 
even  larger  indemnity  of  the  kind  likely  to  be  agree- 
able to  Prussia,  had  been  stipulated  for,  it  being  pro- 
posed to  give  Prussia  Fulda,  Hoya,  and  some  other 
principalities  in  exchange.  Napoleon  had  undertaken 
to  secure  Prussia's  consent  to  these  arrangements. 
Peace  was  just  going  to  be  signed  when  Fox  fell  dan- 
gerously ill,  and  died  a  short  time  after.  Lord  Yar- 
mouth was  at  once  replaced  by  Lord  Lauderdale,  who 
was  sent  by  the  war  party  in  London — who  had  con- 
ceived the  hope  of  forming  another  coalition  against 


NAPOLEON    I.  431 

U5 — with  the  mission  to  break  off  negotiations.  Lord 
Lauderdale,  in  consequence,  imperiously  demanded,  in 
place  of  the  terms  agreed  upon  with  Lord  Yarmouth, 
that  each  country  should  retain  its  respective  posses- 
sions, with  the  exception  of  Hanover,  which  was  occu- 
pied by  Prussia,  a  proposal  which  amounted  to  tliis, 
thai  England  would  have  kept  all  her  conquests,  and 
that  neither  Prussia  nor  France  would  have  obtained 
any  compensation  from  the  British  Ministry,  since  the 
only  English  possession  on  the  continent  which  these 
powers  had  in  their  hands  was  Hanover.  It  w'as  evi- 
dent that  peace  was  not  desired  in  London,  that  all  that 
was  wanted  was  to  obtain  a  declaration  from  France 
that  Hanover  should  be  restored  to  England,  a  declara- 
tion which  would  have  rendered  all  reconciliation  with 
Prussia  out  of  the  question.  At  the  same  time  the  Em- 
peror of  Russia  refused  to  ratify  the  treaty  concluded 
in  Paris  by  M.  d'Oubril.  Lord  Lauderdale  demanded 
the  return  of  his  letters  of  credence. 

Prussia,  led  astray  by  lying  reports  and  perfidious 
manoeuvres,  such  as  are  lavished  l3y  the  English  Gov- 
ernment, was  daily  assuming  a  more  menacing  atti- 
tude. The  young  Court  of  Berlin,  the  Queen  and 
Prince  Louis  Ferdinand  of  Prussia  breathed  hre  into 
the  councils  of  the  King,  and  set  every  head  in  Ger- 
many aglow.  The  beautiful  Queen  of  Prussia,  dressed 
in  the  uniform  of  the  regiment  which  bore  her  name, 
used  often  to  parade  on  horseback  at  its  head,  stimu- 
lating the  enthusiasm  of  the  troops.  Prince  Louis  of 
Prussia,  young,  ardent  but  inexperienced,  was  the 
leader  of  a  large  number  of  young  officers,  who  intoxi- 
cated with  the  remembrance  of  the  great  Frederick, 
and  burning  to  measure  themselves  with  the  French, 
clamoured  aloud  for  war.  They  used  to  go  and  shar- 
pen their  swords  on  the  steps  of  the  French  embassy, 
and   broke    the    windows   of    the    Prussian    ministers 


432  MEMOIRS    OF 

whom  they  thought  favourably  disposed  towards  our 
country.  Berlin  was  in  a  real  state  of  delirium.  The 
King  was  persuaded  that  in  declaring  war  with  France 
he  would  be  carrying  out  the  unanimous  wishes  of  the 
nation.  In  the  first  days  of  the  month  of  September, 
the  Emperor,  rendered  anxious  by  Prussia's  arming, 
and  the  order  given  to  the  Prussian  royal  guards  to 
leave  Berlin  and  to  proceed  to  the  frontier,  desired 
M.  de  Knobelsdorf,  the  Prussian  envoy  to  Paris,  to 
furnish  him  with  explanations  on  these  matters.  M. 
de  Knobelsdorf,  faithful  to  the  system  which  had  been 
adopted  by  the  coalition,  denied  the  arming,  and  stated 
that  this  piece  of  news  was  only  the  result  of  the  action 
of  the  enemies  of  France  and  Prussia,  who  were  jeal- 
ous of  the  cordial  understanding  which  existed  between 
the  two  countries.  Napoleon  might  have  been  lulled 
by  so  positive  a  denial,  which  of  course  had  no  other 
object  in  view.  But  on  the  first  of  the  following  Oc- 
tober a  note  from  M.  de  Knobelsdorf  destroyed  all 
illusions  he  may  have  entertained.  This  note  contained 
three  injunctions,  the  first  and  most  important  of  which 
was  formulated  as  follows :  "The  King  expects  that 
the  French  troops,  whose  presence  in  Germany  is  to- 
tally unjustifiable,  shall  immediately  and  without  any 
exception,  recross  the  Rhine,  beginning  their  march 
back  on  the  day  on  which  the  King  expects  the  Em- 
peror's reply,  and  continuing  it  without  interruption, 
etc.,  etc."  The  Prussian  ambassador  added  that  he 
had  to  insist  with  earnestness — such  were  his  literal 
words — on  a  prompt  reply,  so  that  in  any  case  it  might 
reach  the  King's  head-quarters  on  the  8th  of  October. 
An  ultimatum  formulated  in  such  arrogant  terms  was 
nothing  less  than  a  declaration  of  war.  Napoleon, 
forced  to  take  up  the  gauntlet,  was  anxious  not  to  an- 
nihilate Prussia.     He  earnestly  wished  for  peace,  and 


NAPOLEON    I.  433 

peace  would  have  been  secured,  and  Prussia  would 
ha\e  been  saved,  if  Fox  had  lived. 

The  Prussian  Ministry  was  so  anxious  to  commence 
hostilities  that  without  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the 
Russian  troops  it  suddenly  opened  the  campaign.  The 
Prussian  armies  were  in  front  of  the  French  canton- 
merts  provoking  our  soldiers  with  insults  of  every 
kind,  before  our  army  corps  had  received  any  orders 
to  march. 

The  Emperor  left  St.  Cloud  for  Mayence  on  Sep- 
tember 25th.  He  had  sent  his  guard  on  in  front.  It 
had  left  Paris  some  days  previously,  driving  in  relays 
of  carriages.  The  major-general  had  been  ordered  a 
fortnight  previously  to  procure  horses,  and  to  ask  the 
King  of  Bavaria  for  some.  Napoleon  fearing  that  his 
own,  which  had  only  been  sent  off  on  September  the 
I  ith,  might  not  arrive  in  time.  Napoleon  entered  Ger- 
many on  October  ist,  and  went  to  lunch  with  the 
Prince-Primate  at  Aschailenburg.  He  spent  two  clays 
at  Wurtzburg  in  the  palace  of  the  Grand-duke  Ferdi- 
nand. The  King  of  Wurtemburg  paid  the  Emperor  a 
visit  there  to  confer  with  him,  and  to  make  certain 
statements  which  were  of  common  interest.  During 
his  stay  in  Wurtzburg,  Napoleon  gave  the  necessary 
orders  for  establishing  a  great  depot  in  this  city.  He 
repeated  the  orders  he  had  already  given  and  made 
fresh  commands.  Volumes  would  not  suffice  to  des- 
cribe the  multitude  of  military  and  administrative 
measures  which  in  his  foresight  he  provided  for  every 
section  of  his  army,  and  the  jirccautions  which  he  took 
against  even  the  most  improbable  hazards  of  war. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  not  even  the  minutest  detail  was 
overlooked. 

Important  successes  were  achieved  in  the  first  en- 
gagements, notably  at  the  combat  of  Saalfeld,  whore 
the  young  Prince  Louis  of  Prussia  was  the  first  victim 


434  MEMOIRS    OF 

of  the  war  which  he  had  helped  to  kindle.  The  Em- 
peror ordered  the  major-general  to  write  in  his  name 
to  the  King  of  Prussia  "to  express  the  sympathy  which 
he  felt  for  the  sorrow  which  the  news  of  the  premature 
but  glorious  death  of  Prince  Louis  must  have  caused 
him."  The  rapidity  of  the  march  of  our  soldiers 
brought  the  Emperor  to  Jena  on  October  the  13th. 
These  dates  should  be  remembered.  He  mounted  on 
horseback  forthwith,  wishing  to  make  use  of  the  rest 
of  the  day  to  examine  the  locality,  and,  having  conclu- 
ded this  investigation,  he  made  arrangements  for  a 
battle  which  could  be  fought  on  the  morrow.  Part 
of  the  night  was  spent  in  widening  a  steep  defile  by 
which  to  convey  pieces  of  artillery  on  to  one  of  the 
heights  which  commanded  the  town  of  Jena  and  which 
he  had  chosen  as  his  point  of  attack.  The  Emperor 
was  present  in  person  at  this  operation,  and  sometimes 
in  his  impatience  would  snatch  up  a  torch  to  light  the 
engineers. 

Napoleon  was  on  horseback  giving  his  last  orders 
before  the  break  of  day.  Victory  crowned  his  efforts, 
and  before  the  end  of  the  day  the  Prussian  army  was 
completely  routed.  It  was  only  in  the  night  and  on 
the  following  days,  that  the  immense  results  of  this 
memorable  encounter  became  known.  When  the 
Emperor  re-entered  Jena  in  the  evening,  after  having 
visited  the  field  of  battle  with  his  accustomed  solici- 
tude— a  pious  duty  in  the  fulfilment  of  which  nothing 
was  allowed  to  stand  in  his  way — the  whole  extent  of 
this  great  victory  was  not  yet  known.  But  in  the  night 
General  Romeuf,  Marshal  Davout's  aide-de-camp,  ar- 
rived with  the  news  of  the  victory  won  the  same  day,  a 
few  leagues  off,  by  the  Marshal,  a  victory  which  com- 
pleted that  of  Jena,  and  which  won  for  this  intrepid 
warrior  the  warmest  congratulations  of  the  Emperor, 
and  the  title  of  Duke  of  Auerstadt.     Abandoned  by 


Palrn  was  arrested,  tried  by  rourt-inartifil.  mul  shot. 
Frmii   Ihf   jxilntliiff   hi/   J.    H'(  i.i(  r. 


NAPOLEON    I.  435 

Bernadott-c.  who.  yielding  to  a  deplorable  feeling  of 
rivalry,  not  only  refused  his  urgent  appeals  for  assis- 
tance, but  left  the  battle-field  on  some  pretext,  Davout 
remained  alone  with  the  three  divisions  of  his  army 
corps,  in  presence  of  the  second  Prussian  army,  which 
exceeded  the  number  of  his  soldiers  by  more  than 
half.  The  King  of  Prussia  and  the  two  first  generals 
of  the  great  Prussian  army,  the  Duke  of  Brunswick, 
commander-in-chief,  and  Field-marshal  Mollendorf, 
one  of  the  comrades-in-arms  of  the  great  Frederick, 
were  at  the  head  of  this  army.  Marshal  Davout,  in 
spite  of  his  numerical  inferiority,  did  not  hesitare  to 
oppose  the  enemy's  passing.  The  Marshal's  tenacity, 
backed  by  the  coolness  and  intrepidity  of  the  Gudin, 
Friant,  and  Morand  divisions,  won  him  a  complete 
victory.  These  splendid  successes,  achieved  before  the 
arrival  of  the  Russian  troops,  had  destroyed  the  Prus- 
sian military  forces  and  thrown  open  the  gates  of  Ber- 
lin to  the  French  army. 

The  Emperor,  master  of  all  the  enemy's  communi- 
cations, and  assured  of  victory,  had  written  from  Gera 
to  the  King  of  Prussia  to  declare  that  in  spite  of  all 
his  advantages,  he  was  disposed  to  restore  peace  to 
the  nations;  that  he  had  given  the  Prussian  monarch 
no  real  cause  for  war;  and  that  he  asked  him  to  re- 
move from  his  councils  the  crackpates  who.  fourteen 
vears  previously,  had  wanted  to  take  Paris,  and  w'ho 
had  provoked  the  present  war.  M.  de  Montesquiou, 
Napoleon's  officer  of  ordonnance  and  chamberlain, 
who  had  been  commissioned  to  carry  this  letter,  was 
detained  at  the  enemy's  outposts.  The  Emperor's  let- 
ter was  sent  on  to  the  King,  who  according  to  what 
he  said,  did  not  receive  it  till  the  following  day  when 
the  fighting  had  already  begun.  Rut  even  if  the  King 
had  received  it  on   the  previous  evening  its  persual 


436  MEMOIRS    OF 

would  have  done  no  good,  so  great  was  the  excitement 
of  our  adversaries. 

The  remnants  of  the  Prussian  army,  which  had 
showed  itself  inferior  to  its  great  reputation,  dispersed, 
and,  flying  in  every  direction,  fell  one  after  the  other 
under  the  ardent  pursuit  of  the  French  army.  One 
month  after  entering  the  field  the  enemy's  army  no 
longer  existed. 

On  the  morrow  of  the  battle  of  Jena,  the  Emperor 
called  together  the  officers  of  the  Saxon  troops  which 
had  been  taken  prisoners,  and,  through  my  old  com- 
rade Moustier,  who  acted  as  interpreter,  informed 
them  that  he  would  send  them  back  home,  if  they 
would  promise  not  to  serve  against  France  again.  The 
Saxon  prisoners  numbered  six  thousand  men  and  three 
hundred  officers.  This  act  of  generosity  won  for  Na- 
poleon the  sympathy  of  a  prince  worthy  of  esteem 
and  respect,  the  King  of  Saxony,  whose  friendly  feel- 
ings and  loyalty  towards  him  never  failed,  even  in  the 
midst  of  the  cruellest  adversity.  At  the  same  time  it 
was  one  ally  the  less  for  Prussia. 

Napoleon  thereupon  left  for  Berlin,  halting  at  Wei- 
mar. The  Grand-duchess,  sister  of  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander, came  to  meet  him  with  all  her  court,  and  asked 
for  his  protection  for  her  States.  The  Emperor  re- 
ceived her  with  courtesy,  although  her  husband  was 
commanding  one  of  the  Russian  army  corps,  and  gave 
orders  that  this  new  Athens,  the  home  of  the  first  lit- 
terateurs of  Germany,  should  be  respected.  As  he 
passed  through  Rosbach  Napoleon  gave  orders  for  the 
removal  of  the  monument  which  the  Prussians  had 
erected  on  this  spot  in  remembrance  of  the  battle  of 
that  name.  This  monument,  which  consisted  of  a  small 
pillar,  was  transported  to  France.  The  scattered  rem- 
nants of  the  vanquished  army  were  pursued  without 
respite  in  all  directions.    The  troop  amongst  which  the 


NAPOLEON    I.  437 

King  of  Prussia  found  himself  tried  to  rally  at  Mag- 
deburg. In  his  flight  the  King  ran  the  risk  of  being 
taken  prisoner  at  Weissensee.  where  he  was  cut  off  by 
a  division  of  dragoons  belonging  to  the  French  general 
Klein.  The  Prussian  general  Bliicher  saved  his  king 
by  a  trick,  assuring  General  Klein  that  an  armistice 
had  been  concluded.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  King 
had  asked  for  an  armistice  but  Napoleon  had  refused 
it.  The  general  was  blamed  in  an  order  of  the  day 
for  having  given  credence  to  the  mere  word  of  the 
enemy  in  so  serious  and  important  a  matter. 

Whilst  the  Emperor  was  at  Wittemberg  he  received 
a  letter  from  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  which  was 
brought  by  an  oflicer  of  his  household.  The  Duke 
wrote  as  a  suppliant  to  commend  his  country  to  Napo- 
leon's generosity,  and  to  place  it  under  French  pro- 
tection. The  Emperor  took  the  opportunity  to  express 
himself  very  severely  on  the  Duke  of  Brunswick's  con- 
duct in  1792.  and  in  the  present  war,  on  the  violent 
proclamation  with  which  he  had  threatened  the  French 
nation  with  sword  and  fire,  and  the  insolence  with 
which  he  had  summoned  our  brave  army  to  evacuate 
Germany  by  gradual  stages,  and  to  flee  without  fighting 
before  the  Prussian  eagles;  and  on  his  present  abase- 
ment in  coming  to-day  in  person  to  implore  the  gen- 
erosity of  a  people  which  he  had  dared  to  threaten 
with  shameful  chastisement.  Napoleon  declared  that 
he  would  not  take  reprisals,  that  "General"  Brunswick 
would  be  treated  with  all  the  respect  due  to  a  Prus- 
sian officer,  but  that  he  would  only  be  treated  as  a 
Prussian  general,  and  conse(|uently  not  as  a  sovereign; 
but  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  Duchy  of  Brunswick 
would  find  generous  enemies  in  the  French  soldiers. 
He  repeated  several  times  that  to  destroy  the  dwell- 
ings of  peaceful  citizens  was  a  crime  which  c(juld  be 
repaired  with  time  and  money,  but  thai  to  dishonour 


438  MEMOIRS    OF 

an  army  by  requesting  it  to  flee  before  the  Prussian 
eagles  was  a  baseness  which  only  the  man  who  advised 
it  was  capable  of  committing. 

The  same  Duke  of  Brunswick  who  had  excited  this 
legitimate  indignation  was  mortally  wounded  at  Auer- 
stadt  by  a  cannon-shot  in  the  head,  and  was  conveyed 
to  Brunswick.  He  did  not  await  the  French  there,  and 
was  conveyed  on  to  Altona  where  he  breathed  his  last. 

The  Emperor,  as  a  proof  of  the  satisfaction  which 
he  had  felt  at  Marshal  Davout's  splendid  conduct  and 
at  the  bravery  of  his  ami}^  corps  at  Auerstadt,  re- 
served for  them  the  honour  of  being  the  first  to  enter 
Berlin.  He  betook  himself  there  in  person  towards 
the  end  of  October.  He  spent  two  days  at  Potsdam, 
where  he  visited  the  castle  of  Sans-Souci,  which  he  ex- 
plored with  great  interest.  He  made  his  guides  ex- 
plain to  him  with  all  sorts  of  particulars  the  sort  of  life 
that  the  great  Frederick  had  led  in  this  residence  of 
his.  Writing-tables  stained  with  ink  were  to  be 
found  in  most  of  the  rooms.  There  was  an  immense 
alcove  in  the  King's  bedroom  in  which  Frederick  the 
Great  used  to  sleep  on  a  small  bed,  which  had  been  re- 
moved since  then.  In  the  same  room  were  to  be  found 
a  number  of  music-desks  which  had  been  used  at  the 
concerts,  at  which  Frederick  played  the  flute  himself 
and  performed  pieces  of  music  which  he  himself  had 
composed  with  the  members  of  his  private  orchestra. 
Everything  in  these  rooms  showed  this  great  prince's 
contempt  for  luxury  and  pomp.  Nothing  had  been 
changed  since  his  death.  The  Emperor  found  the 
King's  sword,  his  sash  as  general,  and  his  cordon  of 
the  Order  of  the  Black  Eagle,  at  Potsdam.  He  seized 
upon  these  trophies  with  eagerness,  considering  them 
as  priceless,  and  presented  them  to  the  Hotel  des  In- 
valides  in  Paris.  We  saw  the  apartment  which  Vol- 
taire had  occupied.     The  drawing-room,  or  cabinet  of 


NAPOLEON    1.  439 

this  apartment  was  hung  with  a  painted  and  varnished 
tapestry  which  represented  apes  and  parrots  perched 
on  treUis-work.  The  governor  of  the  castle  told  us 
that  this  was  the  same  tapestry  which  had  been  there 
in  Voltaire's  time,  and  that  the  King  had  placed  it  in 
the  French  philosopher's  rooms  with  a  malicious  in- 
tention. 

M.  Chastenet  de  Puysegur's  work  "On  the  Art  of 
War."  which  we  found  in  the  library  of  Potsdam 
Castle,  was  opened  at  the  very  page  where  the  King 
had  finished  reading  it.  A  small  volume,  in  bastard 
i8mo.  bound  in  red  morocco,  printed  in  Holland,  and 
marked  with  a  "P"  on  the  cover,  as  were  all  the  other 
books  in  this  library,  was  found  lying  on  a  small  table. 
It  was  Montesquieu's  work  "On  the  Greatness  and 
Decline  of  the  Romans,"  and  each  page  of  this  book 
was  covered  with  marginal  notes  in  the  wTiting  of  the 
great  Frederick.  I  carried  this  book  to  the  Emperor, 
and  he  kept  it  in  his  library.  M.  de  Tallyrand.  who 
heard  me  speak  of  it,  asked  me  for  it.  I  gave  it  to  him, 
but  was  never  able  to  get  it  back,  though  I  frequently 
asked  him  for  it. 

The  Emperor  went  from  Potsdam  to  Charlotten- 
burg,  where  he  slept.  This  was  one  of  the  King's 
pleasances,  at  about  one  league's  distance  from  Berlin. 
He  was  received  on  his  entry  into  this  beautiful  resi- 
dence with  music,  which  was  such  that  one  might  have 
supposed  that  it  was  performed  by  the  buglers  of 
numerous  regiments  of  cavalry.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
this  music  was  performed  by  one  of  those  mechanical 
musical  instruments  which  are  so  common  in  Germany. 
This  mechanism  was  in  this  case  placed  in  a  gallery, 
and  was  of  extraordinary  dimensions. 

The  harbingers  in  attendance  found,  in  a  drawer  in 
the  Queen's  toilet-table,  a  voluminous  memorandum 
from  Dumouricz  on  the  best  ways  of  injuring  France. 


440  MEMOIRS    OF 

The  Emperor  made  a  triumphal  entry  into  Berhn, 
passing  under  the  triumphal  arch  which  adorns  the 
Brandenburg  gate,  accompanied  by  his  marshals,  aides- 
de-camp,  and  the  imperial  foot-guards.  He  spent  the 
best  part  of  the  month  of  November  in  the  Prussian 
Capital.  He  occupied  the  King's  palace  or  Schloss, 
which  seemed  an  unfavourable  omen  for  the  future  of 
Prussia,  for  Berlin  was  the  only  capital  which  Napo- 
leon had  conquered  in  which  he  stayed  in  the  sover- 
eign's residence.  Napoleon's  stay  in  Berlin  was 
marked  by  respect  towards  the  members  of  the  royal 
family,  by  the  act  of  clemency  with  which  he  dealt  with 
Prince  Hatzfeldt,  and  by  the  famous  decree  on  the 
continental  blockade. 

England,  abusing  her  maritime  supremacy  to  the 
last  degree,  had  forbidden  all  trade  by  sea  between 
France  and  the  neutral  powers;  and  to  carry  out  this 
measure  the  British  Ministry  had  declared  the  coasts 
of  France,  and  of  the  countries  occupied  by  the  French 
troops,  to  be  in  a  state  of  blockade,  although  as 
a  matter  of  fact  this  blockade  only  existed  on 
paper. 

This  unexampled  attempt  to  violate  international 
law — which  only  acknowledges  as  blockaded  a  har- 
bour that  is  literally  blockaded  by  the  presence  of  a 
naval  force — drove  Napoleon  to  take  just  reprisals 
by  forbidding  trade  of  any  kind  with  England.  The 
approach  of  any  coast  belonging  to  countries  subjected 
to  French  arms  was  forbidden  to  the  English.  Any 
Englishman  so  found  was  declared  prisoner  by  this 
mere  fact;  any  ship  having  communicated  with  the 
coast  of  England,  or  with  any  of  the  English  colonies, 
was  declared  to  be  a  lawful  prize;  all  goods  of  Eng- 
lish manufacture  were  confiscated;  all  English  letters, 
no  matter  what  they  were,  were  seized  in  the  post  and 
destroyed.     The  Emperor  was  not  blind  to  the  rigour 


NAPOLEON    I.  441 

of  these  measures;  to  the  EngHsh  maritime  blockade 
he  opposed  the  continental  blockade.  England  for- 
bade him  the  sea ;  he  forbade  her  the  continent.  Such 
is  the  origin  of  the  decree  of  Berlin,  which  declared 
the  British  Isles  in  a  state  of  blockade.  This  decree 
was  immediately  notified  to  the  maritime  powers  who 
were  allied  with  France,  and  its  execution  strictly  en- 
forced. 

The  result  of  the  battles  of  Jena  and  Auerstadt  had 
been  the  total  annihilation  of  the  fine  Prussian  army 
which  had  stepped  on  to  the  field  of  battle  with  as 
much  foolhardiness  as  courage.  It  vanished,  to  make 
use  of  Napoleon's  expression,  like  an  autumn  mist 
before  the  rising  sun.  Generals  in  chief,  generals 
in  command  of  army  corps,  princes,  infantry,  cavalry, 
artillery — all  was  gone.  The  pursuit  of  the  disbanded 
and  scattered  remnants  of  this  army  in  every  direction 
resembled  a  hunt.  All  the  fortified  places  without 
exception,  some  of  which  were  the  strongest  in  Eu- 
rope, fell  one  after  another  into  the  hands  of  the 
French,  who  had  but  to  present  themselves  at  the 
gates  to  have  these  opened  to  them.  All  that  remained 
to  the  King  of  Prussia  was  twenty  thousand  men  flee- 
ing, dispersed,  beyond  the  Oder,  and  the  only  refuge 
that  this  unfortunate  monarch  could  find  was  at 
Koenigsberg. 

The  surrender  of  Magdeburg  reminded  one  of  the 
taking  of  Ulm :  twenty  generals,  eight  hundred  offi- 
cers, and  twenty-two  thousand  soldiers  marched  out 
past  Marshal  Ncy.  There  were  taken  fifty- four  flags. 
five  standards,  eight  hundred  pieces  of  cannon,  a  mil- 
lion of  powder,  a  large  pontoon-train  and  an  immense 
amount  of  artillery  materials. 

Prince  Jerome,  commanding  an  army  composed  of 
the  French  allies,  was  commissioned  to  reduce  Silesia. 
He  besieged  and  carried,  one  after  the  other,  the  seven 


442  MEMOIRS    OF 

great  fortified  places  which  protect  this  province.  He 
was  summoned  from  Silesia  to  join  the  Grande  Armee, 
and  to  take  part  in  the  combats  which  followed  upon 
the  entry  of  the  French  into  Warsaw.  The  reports 
mentioned  the  distinguished  services  which  he  ren- 
dered there,  and  the  courage  which  often  drove  him 
right  up  to  the  enemy's  outposts.  He  afterwards  re- 
turned to  Silesia  and  had  the  glory  of  achieving  the 
conquest  of  this  province.  The  Emperor,  desiring  to 
stimulate  the  spirit  of  emulation  among  the  troops  of 
the  confederation  of  the  Rhine,  sent  to  the  King  of 
Wurtemberg  a  part  of  the  flags  which  had  been  cap- 
tured at  Glogau  by  the  Wu'^tembergers. 

Napoleon  had  entered  Berlin  with  a  soul  ulcerated 
and  filled  with  bitterness  against  those  who  had  pro- 
voked the  war  which  had  just  brought  him  to  this 
capital.  This  unexpected  triumph,  these  decisive  and 
immense  results,  however  flattering  they  might  be  for 
his  pride,  would  gladly  have  been  bartered  by  him 
for  an  alliance  which  was  now  out  of  the  question. 
They  were  the  outward  and  visible  signs  of  the  dis- 
appearance of  this  favourite  political  dream.  So  also 
his  words  towards  those  who  had  liglited  or  fanned 
the  flames  which  had  just  devoured  their  country, 
were  incisive,  severe,  and  humiliating.  Fidelity  to  the 
King  of  Prussia  no  longer  seemed  a  virtue  to  him. 
He  transformed  all  excesses  of  ^eal  for  the  interests 
of  this  King  into  the  crime  of  high  treason.  His 
resentment  manifested  itself  in  bitter  complaints — 
which,  however,  were  fully  justified, — against  the 
Queen,  who  had  allowed  herself  to  be  carried  by  un- 
reasoning hatred  far  beyond  the  limits  to  which  her 
sex  and  her  rank  should  have  restrained  her;  and  he 
compared  her  to  Armida,  in  her  madness,  setting  fire 
to  her  own  palace.    The  immoderate  exaltation  of  this 


x\APOLEON    I.  443 

princess  had  been  as  fatal  to  the  Prussian  monarchy 
as  the  excessive  prudence  of  her  husband. 

On  the  other  hand  the  Emperor  treated  the  members 
of  the  royal  family,  who  had  remained  in  Berlin,  with 
respect.  He  paid  a  visit  to  the  King's  uncle,  Prince 
Ferdinand,  whose  son  had  been  killed  at  Saalfeld.  and 
tried  to  speak  some  words  of  consolation.  He  also 
visited  the  widow  of  Prince  Henry,  and  the  King's 
two  sisters,  one  of  whom  was  in  child-bed,  and  the 
other  ill.  He  treated  these  princesses  with  delicate 
attentions,  and  provided  for  the  wants  of  the  second, 
who,  in  the  confusion  of  the  times,  had  been  left  de- 
prived of  all  the  comforts  of  life. 

Napoleon  gave  orders  that  the  pensions  of  Princess 
Henry,  and  of  Prince  and  Princess  Ferdinand,  should 
be  paid  to  them  regularly,  and  replaced  in  possession 
of  their  revenues  and  pensions  two  sisters  of  the  Duke 
of  Brunswick,  who  had  been  mortally  wounded  at  one 
of  the  last  two  great  battles. 

Several  small  principalities,  independent  of,  though 
allied  to,  Prussia,  were  exempted  from  contributing  to 
the  war  levies.  The  city  of  Leipzig  was  relieved  of 
the  extraordinary  levy  which  had  been  laid  upon  her. 
The  English  goods  which  had  been  seized  there  were 
left  to  the  merchants,  who  bought  them  in  for  ten 
million  francs.  The  levy  imposed  on  the  Electorate 
of  Hesse-Casscl  was  put  to  the  charge  of  the  Elector's 
prKate  debtors,  and  these  were  forced  to  pay  into  the 
army  treasury  the  sums  which  this  prince  had  lent 
them.  In  one  word  the  Emperor  did  his  best  to  dim- 
inish, as  far  as  possible,  the  burden  of  the  war  which 
weighed  on  the  towns  and  minor  states  which  had 
been  drawn,  against  their  will,  into  the  struggle  be- 
tween Prussia  and  France.  A  suspension  of  hostilities 
had  been  signed  at  Charlottenburg,  during  the  Em- 
peror's stay  in  Berlin,  where  he  was  endeavouring  to 


444  MEMOIRS    OF 

negotiate  for  peace.  The  King  of  Prussia  having 
refused  to  ratify  it,  on  the  ground  that  a  part  of  the 
Prussian  States,  which  the  French  troops  were  to  oc- 
cupy, was  in  the  possession  of  the  Russians,  the  Em- 
peror left  Berhn  for  Posen. 

If  Prussia  and  her  army  were  annihilated  by  our 
great  victories,  the  Russian  armies  remained  intact. 
Although  the  season  w^as  advanced  the  Emperor  could 
not  hesitate  to  march  against  them.  The  campaign  in 
Poland  was  announced  in  a  proclamation  to  the  army, 
which  was  dated  December  2nd,  the  second  anniver- 
sary of  the  proclamation  of  the  Empire.  The  ap- 
proach of  the  French  army  had  revived  the  undying 
hopes  of  the  Poles.  The  people  were  arming  in  every 
direction,  and  in  addresses  and  by  deputations  prayed 
for  the  re-establishment  of  their  nationality.  Napo- 
leon would,  however,  make  no  promises.  He  awaited 
that  the  issue  of  this  campaign,  as  he  himself  said, 
should  permit  him  to  solve  "this  great  political  prob- 
lem, of  which  God  alone,  Who  holds  in  His  hands 
the  combination  of  all  events,  was  the  arbitrator." 
Before  leaving  Posen,  the  Emperor  concluded  a  treaty 
of  peace  with  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  whose  virtues 
and  fidelity  he  held  in  high  esteem.  By  the  terms  of 
this  treaty  the  title  of  King  was  given  to  this  prince, 
who  after  the  Peace  of  Tilsitt,  added  to  it  that  of 
Grand-duke  of  Warsaw. 

A  decree  ordered  the  erection  of  the  Temple  of 
Glory  in  Paris.  This  monument  was  to  bear  on  its 
front  the  words :  "The  Emperor  Napoleon  to  the 
Soldiers  of  the  Great  Army,"  and  orders  were  given 
that  a  plan  of  this  building,  which  was  to  occupy  the 
site  of  the  Madeleine  church,  should  be  laid  before  the 
Emperor  with  the  least  possible  delay. 

The  Emperor  went  from  Posen  towards  W^arsaw. 
The  roads  were  in  a  fearful  state.     Duroc,  the  Grand 


NAPOLEON    I.  445 

Marshal  of  the  Palace,  whose  carriage  was  upset 
under  way,  broke  his  shoulder-bone.  It  was  only 
on  the  morrow  that  he  could  be  transported  to 
Warsaw. 

The  Emperor's  entry  into  this  ancient  capital  of 
Poland  excited  a  state  of  universal  delirium.  He  only 
spent  three  days  there.  Hearing  that  the  Russian 
generals  had  stopped  their  retrograde  movement  and 
were  marching  to  the  front,  Napoleon  left  Warsaw  at 
one  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  December  23rd  to  go 
and  encounter  them.  Several  fights  took  place,  not- 
ably at  Nasielk,  where  Colonel  Philippe  Segur  was 
taken  prisoner,  after  bravely  defending  himself. 
When  Napoleon  arrived  at  Nasielk  the  Russians  were 
evacuating  this  town.  He  followed  so  close  upon  them 
that  he  entered  the  town  before  his  servants  had  fin- 
ished cleaning  out  the  hut  where  he  was  to  pass  the 
night.  A  corpse  was  hidden  under  some  straw  in 
this  hut,  and  the  servants  had  barely  the  time  to  re- 
move it,  almost  under  his  eyes. 

The  encounters  at  Pultusk  and  Golymin  ended  this 
short  campaign.  The  Russians  had  heavy  losses  at 
these  places,  but  were  preserved  from  certain  annihi- 
lation by  the  heaviness  of  the  mud,  which  was  so  thick 
that  the  cannon  got  stuck.  Even  soldiers  perished  in 
this  slough,  without  being  able  to  extricate  themselves. 
It  may  be  added  that  in  the  course  of  these  trying 
marches,  the  indomitable  courage  and  patient  valour 
of  the  soldiers  did  not  for  an  instant  abandon  them. 
The  sight  of  the  Emperor  marching  in  the  midst  of 
the  ranks  on  roads  soaked  with  rain  consoled  them 
for  all  their  sufferings,  and  their  natural  gaiety  helped 
them  to  bear  up  against  all  their  troubles.  Sometimes 
a  joke  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth  and  excited  gen- 
eral laughter.  A  soldier,  seeing  the  Emperor  strug- 
gling painfully  against  the  mud  and  swaying  on  his 


446  MEMOIRS    OF 

horse  which  slipped  at  every  step,  began  to  hum  this 
refrain  of  a  song  that  was  fashionable  at  the  time : — 

"  On  ne  saurait  trop  embellir 
Le  court  escape  de  la  vie." 

This  parody  on  Cyneas's  advice  to  Pyrrhus  brought 
a  smile  to  the  lips  of  Napoleon,  who  was  not  vexed 
at  the  sally.  Their  privations,  however,  and  the  bad 
weather  irritated  the  soldiers  against  Poland.  There 
was  always  some  epigram  suggested  to  them  by  their 
privations.  They  had  remembered  four  Polish  words 
amongst  others,  and  used  to  make  up  dialogues  with 
them.  These  were  kleba  (bread),  zwda  (water), 
niema  (no),  sara  (at  once).  The  soldiers  used  to 
say:  "When  you  ask  the  Poles  for  bread,  they  never 
fail  to  answ^er  'Niema  kleba  ;  but  if  you  ask  them  for 
water  {voda),  oh,  then  it's  'zara  mra  nara!'  " 

The  alternations  of  snow,  frost,  and  thaw  rendered 
marching  impossible,  and  the  Emperor  returned  to 
Warsaw.  He  spent  the  whole  month  of  January, 
1807,  there.  During  this  halt,  which  gave  the  array  a 
rest,  Napoleon  gave  fetes  and  concerts  to  the  Polish 
ladies.  He  did  not  remain  insensible  to  the  charms 
of  one  of  them,  whose  tenderness  and  devotion  did 
not  fail  him  in  the  days  of  misfortune. 

Prince  de  Benevent  presented  General  Baron  de 
Vincent  to  the  Emperor  at  Warsaw.  The  Baron  was 
the  bearer  of  a  letter  from  the  Emperor  of  Austria, 
whose  protestations  and  offers  did  not  entirely  re- 
assure Napoleon  on  the  equivocal  attitude  of  this 
power.  General  Andreossy,  French  ambassador  to 
Vienna,  had  described  the  tendencies  of  the  court  of 
Austria  as  being  very  suspicious,  repeating  this  first 
warning,  which  he  had  given  in  the  month  of  Septem- 
ber, towards  the  end  of  October  of  the  same  year, 
1806.     He  sent   word  that  this  court  was  certainly 


NAPOLEON    I.  447 

mixed  up  in  the  political  conspiracy;  that  Austria,  with 
respect  to  the  rest  of  the  Continent,  was  in  the  same 
position  as  Prussia  had  been  before  the  battle  of  Aus- 
terlitz;  that  Count  Stadion  was  still  at  the  head  of 
affairs,  and  that  everything  was  directed  by  him ;  that, 
under  pretext  of  cantoning  the  Austrian  army,  the 
troops  of  the  Emperor  Francis  were  being  assembled 
on  the  Polish  frontier;  that,  instead  of  disarming, 
Austria  maintained  the  same  attitude,  and  that  her 
standing  army  might  be  estimated  at  one  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand  men ;  that,  besides,  the  position  and 
successes  of  the  Great  Army  was  the  one  object  of 
Austria's  politics  and  those  of  the  Continent. 

Marshal  Ney  wrote  to  the  major-general  that  the 
examination  of  prisoners  had  infonned  him.  apart 
from  particulars  concerning  the  movements  and  oper- 
ations of  the  Russian  and  Prussian  troops,  '*  that  it 
was  generally  believed  that  on  the  first  successes  ob- 
tained by  the  Russians — successes  which  they  thought 
certain  by  reason  of  their  numerical  superiority — the 
Austrian  army  would  give  a  diversion  in  Moravia  and 
march  into  Silesia." 

An  old  Polish  soldier,  born  in  1C90,  was  presented 
to  the  Emperor  during  his  stay  in  Warsaw.  This  old 
man  of  one  hundred  and  seventeen  was  without  any 
infirmity,  and  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  his  memory. 
He  had  known  King  Sobieski,  and  remembered  the 
stories  which  his  father  had  told  him  of  the  battle  at 
which  he  was  present  when  the  King  of  Poland  de- 
feated the  Turks  and  forced  them  to  raise  the  siege  of 
Vienna  in  1683.  In  answer  to  a  petition,  written  in 
Polish  and  in  a  still  firm  handwriting,  which  was 
handed  to  him  by  this  patriarch  of  days  gone  by.  Na- 
poleon ordered  that  a  pension  of  one  hundred  napo- 
leons should  be  paid  to  him,  and  one  year's  pension  in 
advance. 


44^  MEMOIRS    OF 

A  serious  attack  upon  our  cantonments,  made  by 
the  Russian  army,  forced  Napoleon  to  take  the  field 
again,  in  spite  of  the  extreme  cold.  He  left  Warsaw 
to  fight  with  the  Russians  the  battle  of  Preussisch- 
Eylau,  which  was  bloody  and  hardly  contested.  A 
horrible  spectacle  was  the  sight  of  this  battle-field, 
covered  with  corpses,  and  furrowed  with  blood,  which 
lay  in  long  lines  mapped  out  on  the  snow.  We  had 
slept  the  evening  before  at  the  little  village  of  Eylau, 
and  returned  there  on  the  evening  after  the  battle. 
The  Emperor  deeply  regretted  the  loss  of  one  of  his 
aides-de-camp,  General  Corbineau  the  elder,  who  was 
killed  whilst  carrying  an  order  in  the  course  of  the 
engagement.  We  had  passed  the  night  sleeping  on 
the  same  straw  with  this  officer,  and  he  had  expressed 
a  vague  presentiment  that  the  morrow  would  be  fatal 
to  him. 

One  of  the  most  daring  cavalry  actions  known  in 
the  history  of  war  must  not  be  passed  over  in  silence 
here,  A  body  of  twenty-four  squadrons — composed 
for  the  most  part  of  the  division  of  General  d'Haut- 
poul's  cuirassiers  and  mounted  grenadiers  of  the  im- 
perial guard,  commanded  by  General  Lepic — charged 
the  Russian  squares.  These  intrepid  cavalrymen 
broke  into  the  centre  of  the  Russian  army,  wheeled 
round,  charged  again,  and  forced  their  way  right  up 
to  the  third  line  of  the  enemy's  infantry,  which  they 
annihilated.  General  d'Hautpoul  was  mortally 
wounded  during  this  magnificent  charge.  Before  dy- 
ing he  had  strength  enough  left  him  to  write  to  the 
Emperor  to  express  his  devotion  to  him.  Napoleon 
consoled  the  last  moments  of  this  brave  soldier  with 
the  following  letter: 

"  Preuss.  Eylau,  Feb.  9th,  1807 
"  M.  LE  General  d'Hautpoul — I  was  extremely 


NAPOLEON    I.  449 

touched  by  the  letter  which  you  have  written  to  me. 
Your  wound  is  not  such  as  to  deprive  your  son  of  his 
father.  You  will  live  to  lead  other  charges  at  the  head 
of  your  brave  division,  and  to  cover  yourself  with 
fresh  glory.  You  and  your  children  may  rely  upon 
the  interest  I  take  in  you. 

"  (Signed)  Napoleon/' 

The  Emperor,  by  a  decree  dated  from  Osterode  on 
March  6th,  1807,  ordered  that  an  equestrian  statue 
representing  General  d'Hautpoul  in  his  cuirassier  uni- 
form, should  be  made  from  the  metal  of  twenty-four 
cannon  which  had  been  captured  at  Eylau. 

Marshal  Augereau,  also,  was  wounded  in  this  dis- 
astrous battle.  This  wound  and  acute  rheumatic  pains, 
with  which  he  was  tormented,  temporarily  affected 
his  mind.  I  saw  him,  by  chance,  riding  up  to  the  Em- 
peror, with  his  hat  in  his  hand.  The  perspiration 
was  pouring  from  his  head,  though  it  was  bitterly  cold 
at  the  time.  This  Marshal,  usually  so  brilliant  on  the 
field  of  battle,  came  to  say  that  he  no  longer  under- 
stood anything  about  the  manoeuvres,  and  asked  to 
be  replaced.  Napoleon  listened  to  him  with  kindness, 
and  said  a  few  words  of  consolation,  and  then  com- 
missioned General  Compans  to  take  over  the  tempo- 
rary command  of  his  army  corps.  On  the  morrow 
permission  was  granted  to  the  Marshal  to  return  to 
France  to  attend  to  his  health. 

The  Russians  claimed  the  victory  for  themselves 
and,  according  to  their  custom,  had  a  Tc  Dctim 
chanted  at  St.  Peter.sburg.  But  during  the  night  which 
followed  this  bloody  day,  they  decamped,  leaving  us 
masters  of  the  field  of  battle,  with  many  thousands  of 
prisoners,  forty  cannon,  and  sixteen  fiags.  One  of 
the  Russian  army  corps  which  had  fought  at  Eylau, 
fell  in,  on  its  retreat,  with  the  fifth  corps  which  Gen- 


450  MEMOIRS    OF 

eral  Savary  was  commanding  in  the  absence  of  Mar- 
shal Lannes,  who  was  lying  sick  at  Warsaw.  From 
this  encounter  came  the  battle  of  Ostrolenka,  which  is 
mentioned  in  the  reports  as  a  combat,  but  at  which, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  three  divisions  of  the  French 
army  were  engaged.  The  Russians  were  completely 
routed.  Napoleon  expressed  his  satisfaction  at  the 
way  General  Savary  had  acted,  and  awarded  him  the 
grand  decoration  of  the  Legion  of  Honour.  General 
Savary  returned  to  his  service  as  aide-de-camp  to  the 
Emperor. 

Napoleon  spent  three  days  at  Eylau  occupied  in 
arranging  for  the  removal  of  the  wounded,  and  in 
hurrying  on  the  arrival  of  provisions  required  for  the 
army.  Some  days  after  the  battle  he  replied  to  the 
proposals  which  the  King  of  Prussia  had  made  to  him. 
He  expressed  himself  anxious  to  put  an  end  to  Prus- 
sia's misfortunes.  He  offered  to  conclude  a  separate 
peace  with  him,  and  to  reorganize  the  Prussian  mon- 
archy, which,  as  an  intermediary  power  and  as  a  bar- 
rier against  Russia,  was  necessary  for  the  tranquillity 
of  the  whole  of  Europe.  General  Bertrand  was 
charged  with  this  letter.  The  King's  answer  was 
brought  to  Osterode  by  the  Prussian  general  Kleist, 
who  had  orders  to  add  some  verbal  explanations. 
The  King  of  Prussia  could  not  resign  himself  to  sign 
a  treaty  for  which  his  ally  was  to  be  excluded.  He 
proposed  the  assembly  of  a  congress  at  which  Prussia, 
Russia,  England,  and  Sweden  should  be  represented. 
Prussia  had  just  bound  herself  to  England  by  a  con- 
vention, and  had  already  received  the  first  instalments 
of  an  English  subsidy.  She  hoped  to  find  a  powerful 
ally  in  this  state,  and  thought  that  a  treaty  made  in 
conjunction  with  England  and  Russia  would  be  less 
disadvantageous  to  her  than  a  separate  peace.  The 
Emperor,  in  his  turn,  answered  that  the  inevitable  de- 


^ 


CO 


to 


s       s 
J:     '-s 


=s       s 


> ' 


NAPOLEON    I.  451 

lay  of  a  congress  was  not  in  accordance  with  the  pre- 
sent situation  in  Prussia,  although  he  also  desired  to 
come  to  an  understanding  with  Russia  and  England. 
This  correspondence  resulted  in  nothing,  though  the 
communications  between  the  head-quarters  of  the  bel- 
ligerent parties  were  not  interrupted  during  the  time 
which  Napoleon  spent  at  Osterode  and  Finckenstein. 

From  Eylau  the  Emperor  went  to  take  up  his  winter 
quarters,  at  first  at  Osterode,  so  as  to  be  near  his 
cantonments,  and  spent  the  end  of  February  and  the 
whole  month  of  March  here.  He  issued  numerous 
orders  from  Osterode  to  provide  for  means  of  sub- 
sistence, flour,  wines,  brandies,  rum,  and  beer  for  the 
soldiers  and  the  invalids,  and  forage  for  the  horses. 
He  ordered  at  the  same  lime  that  detailed  reports  on 
the  state  of  the  storehouses  which  had  been  concen- 
trated at  Pultusk.  Warsaw,  and  other  places,  should 
be  laid  before  him.  He  asked  the  heads  of  the  va- 
rious corps  for  information  as  to  how  their  soldiers 
were  living.  Provisions  for  the  soldiers  were  the  first 
object  of  his  care,  and  he  also  paid  great  attention  to 
the  state  of  the  hospitals.  Then  followed  orders  to 
provide  for  the  salubrity  and  safety  of  the  canton- 
ments, for  remounting  the  cavalry,  to  bring  up  distant 
corps,  and  thus  to  reinforce  the  army;  to  form  pro- 
visional regiments  at  Mayence,  and  to  march  them  to 
Potsdam  and  other  places;  to  recall  French  divisions, 
the  Polish  legion,  and  the  Polish  lancers  from  Italy; 
and  to  form  with  the  latter  an  observation  corps,  the 
command  of  which  was  given  to  the  Polish  general 
Zayonchek.  Other  orders  provided  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  funds  allotted  to  the  artillery,  to  the  en- 
gineers, to  the  commissariat,  accoutrement  and  trans- 
port services,  for  the  awarding  of  recompenses,  and 
for  watching  the  movements  of  the  enemy. 

On  April   ist  Napoleon  went  to  live  iti  the  Castle 
B — Memoirs  Vol.  7 


452  NAPOLEON  I. 

of  Finckenstein,  where  he  spent  the  months  of  April 
and  May.  During  his  stay  here  the  same  labours 
were  the  object  of  his  constant  activity.  He  used  to 
make  short  excursions  from  Finckenstein  to  visit  the 
army  corps,  and  to  see  the  bridge  which  he  had  had 
built  over  the  Vistula.  In  the  prolonged  inactivity  of 
his  residence  in  winter  quarters  Napoleon  showed  that 
he  knew  how  to  ally  patience  and  tact  with  the  im- 
petuous outbursts  of  his  genius.  Work  was  his  cle- 
ment and  beguiled  his  impatience.  The  necessity  of 
preparing  decisive  triumphs  to  master  the  enemies, 
who  allowed  him  no  hope  of  safety  but  in  victory;  to 
keep  his  allies  to  their  duty,  and  to  reassure  France, 
all  these  duties  made  his  time  of  waiting,  so  advan- 
tageously used  by  him,  appear  very  short. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  he  had  barely  the  time  necessary 
for  the  operations  of  the  war  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
care  of  the  government  of  his  vast  empire  on  the  other. 


CHAPTER  VII 

IT  was  during  his  stay  at  the  Castle  of  Finckenstein 
that  the  Emperor  heard  of  the  results  of  General 
Sebastiani's  brilliant  embassy  to  Constantinople.  I 
will  not  enter  into  the  particulars  of  the  important 
services  which  this  ambassador  rendered  to  the  Porte 
on  this  occasion  in  the  interests  of  France.  Napoleon 
highly  praised  the  energ}'  and  skill  with  which  Gen- 
eral Sebastiani  had  raised  the  courage  of  the  Turks, 
and  had  stimulated  them  to  put  their  capital  and  the 
Bosphorus  into  a  state  of  defence,  as  well  as  the  ac- 
tivity and  the  vigour  which  he  had  shown  in  directing 
the  works  himself,  and  in  triumphing  over  the  Otto- 
man apathy.  The  complete  success  obtained  by  our 
ambassador  made  French  influence  predominant  in 
the  Divan.  The  Emperor  himself  had  taken  care 
to  keep  up  the  Sultan's  favourable  feelings  towards 
France.  He  kept  writing  him  pressing  letters,  urging 
him  to  place  himself  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  remind- 
ing him  of  the  glory  of  the  Selims  and  the  Amuraths 
— in  one  word  he  had  aroused  in  this  weak,  but  really 
gifted  prince  a  feeling  of  generous  indignation  against 
the  oppression  of  England.  Selim,  in  his  enthusiasm 
for  Napoleon,  and  disobeying  the  law  of  the  Koran, 
which  forbids  all  representations  of  the  human  face, 
had  desired  to  have  a  portrait  of  the  Emperor,  follow- 
ing the  example  of  Sultan  Muslapha.  who,  in  his  ad- 
miration for  the  great  Frederick,  had  placed  a  por- 
trait of  this  king  in  his  seraglio — the  only  portrait 
that  had  ever  entered  its  doors.  Selim,  in  exchange 
sent  the  Emperor  his  portrait,  which  was  placed  in  the 
Emperor's  cabinet.     It  was  the  chevalier  Aniedce  Jau- 

453 


454  MEMOIRS    OF 

bert  who,  passing  through  Constantinople  on  his  way 
back  from  a  diplomatic  mission  to  Persia,  brought  this 
portrait,  together  with  the  portrait  of  Feth-Aly-Shah, 
back  to  Finckenstein. 

It  was  at  Finckenstein  also  that  the  Emperor  de- 
cided on  the  plan  of  the  monument  which  he  wished 
to  dedicate  to  the  Great  Army,  and  the  erection  of 
which  he  had  ordered  on  December  2nd,  1806.  The 
buildings  of  the  Madeleine  church,  which  had  been 
abandoned  in  an  advanced  state  of  construction  in 
1790,  and  as  to  the  occupation  of  which  Napoleon  had 
frequently  hesitated,  were  definitely  appropriated  to 
this  monument.  The  committee  of  the  Institute, 
charged  with  the  inspection  of  the  plans  submitted  for 
the  competition,  had  forwarded  various  plans,  and  had 
indicated  which  amongst  them  they  had  considered 
the  most  suitable.  Napoleon  had  charged  M.  Fon- 
taine, his  architect,  to  be  present  at  the  inspection  of 
the  plans,  which  was  to  take  place  at  the  Ministry  of 
the  Interior,  and  to  report  to  him  on  the  subject.  This 
report  not  having  reached  the  Emperor  in  time,  he 
decided  to  accept  M.  Vignon's  plan,  which  had  only 
obtained  the  second  place,  but  which  pleased  the  Em- 
peror by  the  grandeur  of  its  dimensions  and  form. 
What  the  Emperor  wanted  was  a  building,  not  of  the 
style  of  modern  churches,  but  which  would  recall  an- 
tique monuments,  and  be  superior  both  in  majesty  and 
magnificence  to  the  finest  buildings  which  antiquity 
had  bequeathed  to  us.  No  wood,  and  nothing  but 
iron,  marble,  and  gold  were  to  be  used  in  the  construc- 
tion of  this  building.  M.  Vignon's  plan  fulfilled  some 
of  the  necessary  conditions,  but  was  wanting  in  gen- 
eral arrangement  and  in  points  of  detail.  M.  Fon- 
taine's remarks  made  Napoleon  regret  not  to  have 
awaited  his  architect's  report  before  coming  to  a  de- 
cision. 


NAPOLEON  I.  455 

As  the  author  of  the  successful  plan  had  no  practi- 
cal experience  of  building.  M.  Rondelet,  an  architect, 
was  associated  with  M.  Vignon,  to  superintend  the 
carrying  out  of  the  construction,  M.  Fontaine  having 
refused  the  post.  M.  Rondelet  was  the  most  celebra- 
ted pupil  of  the  great  Soulllot,  who,  on  his  deathbed, 
had  mentioned  him  as  the  man  most  capable  of  fin- 
ishing the  great  cathedral  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  which 
has  since  become  the  Pantheon. 

The  Madeleine,  a  grandiose  specimen  of  architec- 
ture under  the  Empire,  and  constructed  on  the  model 
of  the  temples  of  ancient  Greece,  is  not  adapted  to 
the  requirements  of  a  church.  It  was  proposed  to 
place  Napoleon's  tomb  in  this  building,  and  this  plan 
had  the  advantage  of  giving  the  founder  of  the  impe- 
rial edifice  a  last  home  in  a  monument,  at  once  reli- 
gious and  national,  which  had  been  erected  under  his 
reign.  But  the  Restoration  decided  otherwise,  and 
the  Madeleine  was  purely  and  simply  restored  to  di- 
vine worship. 

The  Emperor  received  the  Turkish  and  Persian 
ambassadors  at  Finckenstein.  Mirza-Rizza,  a  great 
Persian  nobleman,  arrived  in  Warsaw  early  in  March, 
at  the  same  time  as  a  Turkish  ambassador.  The  Per- 
sian envoy  was  summoned,  towards  the  end  of  April, 
to  Finckenstein  where  he  was  treated  with  great  re- 
spect, and  put  into  relations  with  the  Secretary  of 
State — Maret,  Duke  of  Bassano.  The  negotiations 
only  lasted  a  few  days,  and  the  treaty  was  signed  on 
May  tiie  8tli.  The  learned  orientalist  Jaubert,  drago- 
man secretary  to  the  imperial  cabinet,  acted  as  inter- 
mediary between  the  two  negotiators.  The  Persian 
ambassador  offered  the  Emperor  some  pearls  and 
shawls  on  this  occasion,  representing  them  as  coming 
from  himself,  because  he  feared  that  they  might  give 
a  lower  idea  than  lie  wished  of  his  sovereign,  as  a 


456  MEMOIRS    OF 

good  courtier,  or  from  a  feeling  of  national  pride.  He 
pretended  that  his  master's  presents  had  not  yet  ar- 
rived, and  presented  his  own,  saying  that  he  prayed 
the  lion  to  receive  the  gifts  of  the  ant.  He  accom- 
panied Napoleon  to  a  great  review  following  the  Em- 
peror step  by  step  amidst  the  ranks  of  the  soldiers, 
walking  on  the  ploughed  fields  with  his  beautiful 
slippers  and  trailing  robe.  It  was  very  hot  weather, 
and  he  returned  to  Finckenstein  quite  worn  out. 
Throwing  himself  on  his  couch,  he  kept  exclaiming, 
exhausting  the  whole  vocabulary  of  admiration, 
''How  great!  How  fine!  How  magnificent!"  Be- 
low his  breath  he  muttered  :  "I  am  dying  of  fatigue." 
The  Emperor  used  to  walk  out  with  him  in  the  gar- 
dens of  Finckenstein  every  day.  One  day  the  poor  am- 
bassador found  himself  in  a  very  awkward  position. 
His  supply  of  henna  had  run  out,  a  red  substance 
which  he  used  for  dyeing  his  nails  and  the  palms 
of  his  hands,  and  he  was  as  much  ashamed  to  appear 
before  the  Emperor  with  white  hands  as  the  habitue 
of  our  drawing-rooms  in  Paris  would  have  been  to 
present  himself  without  gloves.  One  day  the  conver- 
sation turned  on  the  history  of  Alexander,  and  the 
ambassador  said  that  the  true  history  of  this  conquer- 
or was  to  be  found  in  Persia.  Mirza-Rizza  departed 
on  his  way  back  home  immediately  after  the  signing 
of  the  treaty.  He  was  followed  shortly  afterwards 
by  General  Gardanne,  the  Emperor's  aide-de-camp, 
who  was  accredited  as  ambassador  to  the  court  of 
Teheran.  Napoleon  at  the  same  time  sent  some  dis- 
tinguished officers  to  be  attached  to  his  legation.  They 
were  intended  to  act  as  instructors  and  auxiliaries 
to  the  Persian  army.  As  to  General  Gardanne,  who 
went  to  Teheran  in  the  hopes  of  finding  a  treasure 
which  had  formerly  been  buried  in  this  capital  by  his 
grandfather,  his  searches  were  in  vain. 


NAPOLEON  I.  457 

The  Turkish  ambassador.  Seib-Wahid-Emin- 
Ettendi,  arrived  in  Finckenstein  a  month  later.  He 
was  as  much  lacking  in  wit  and  intelligence  as  Mirza- 
Rizza  had  been  distinguished  for  these  qualities,  and 
was  essentially  a  formal  and  fastidious  person.  Com- 
missioned to  tighten  the  bonds  of  friendship  which 
united  us  to  Turkey,  he  did  not  consider  himself 
vested  with  sufficient  powers  to  conclude  a  real  al- 
liance. During  a  conference  which  took  place  be- 
tween him  and  the  Emperor  in  the  garden  of  the  cas- 
tle of  Finckenstein,  Napoleon  urged  him  to  conclude, 
making  signs  with  his  hand  to  try  and  make  the  Turk- 
ish ambassador  understand  that  the  Russians  had 
made  us  proposals  of  peace.  At  last,  to  compel  him 
to  come  to  a  decision,  the  Emperor  declared  to  him 
that  if  no  arrangement  was  come  to  between  France 
and  Turkey,  peace  would  inevitably  be  made  with 
Russia  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Porte.  Wahid  con- 
tented himself  with  answering  that  he  needed  fresh 
instructions,  that  the  answer  to  his  letter  would  not 
occasion  a  delay  of  more  than  forty  days,  and  that  he 
begged  the  Emperor  to  wait.  Napoleon,  who  could 
not  submit  to  delay,  was  made  very  impatient  by  this 
obstinacy. 

In  the  meanwhile  events  were  progressing,  and  in 
the  interests  of  the  campaign  Napoleon  left  for  Dant- 
zig.  He  summoned  the  Turkish  ambassador  to  join 
him  there,  and  to  continue  the  negotiations  with  the 
Duke  of  Vicencc,  who  was  not  a  whit  more  success- 
ful. All  these  conferences  came  to  nothing,  and  hos- 
tilities with  the  Russians  recommenced.  Wahid- 
EfiFendi  proceeded  to  Paris,  where  he  soun  heard  of 
Sultan  Selim's  decision,  which  deprived  him  of  his 
powers. 

The  Treaty  of  Tilsitt  was  signed,  and  Turkey  had 
mis.scd  her  opportunity  of  uniting  herself  in  a  close 


458  MEMOIRS    OF 

alliance  with  France,  which  would  have  been  advan- 
tageous to  both  states.  The  failure  of  Napoleon's 
efforts  to  bring  the  Porte  to  this  line  of  action  was 
of  a  nature  to  cool  his  feelings  towards  this  state; 
however,  in  spite  of  the  obstinacy  which  had  been 
shown  in  these  delays,  either  owing  to  the  incapacity 
of  the  representative  to  Finckenstein,  or  to  the 
influence  of  Russia  on  the  Divan,  the  good  under- 
standing between  Turkey  and  France  did  not  appear 
to  be  in  the  least  diminished;  but  M.  de  Talleyrand 
showed  himself  very  offended  that  anybody  but  him- 
self should  have  been  chosen  to  treat  either  with 
Turkey  or  with  Persia. 

The  war  with  Sweden  continued.  Marshal  Mortier 
received  orders  to  occupy  Pomerania  and  to  besiege 
Stralsund,  the  garrison  of  which  was  a  menace  to 
our  lines  of  communication.  The  Emperor  consid- 
ered the  war  with  Sweden  bad  policy.  He  bitterly 
regretted  that  the  Swedes  had  set  fire  to  the  fine  fau- 
bourg of  Stralsund  and  that  two  thousand  of  the  in- 
habitants were  in  consequence  homeless. 

He  deplored  the  sufferings  caused  to  a  nation  which 
was  our  natural  ally.  He  had  in  consequence  ex- 
pressed a  wish  to  Marshal  Mortier  that  a  suspension 
of  hostilities  might  be  concluded,  thanks  to  which 
friendly  relations  might  once  more  be  established  be- 
tween the  Swedes  and  ourselves.  This  wish  for  a 
truce  was  realized,  although  no  definite  treaty  of 
peace  was  concluded.  An  armistice  which  had  been 
granted  for  a  period  of  ten  days  only,  and  which  the 
Emperor  had  had  prolonged,  lasted  until  about  the 
middle  of  July.  Peace  had  just  been  signed  at  Tilsitt, 
when  the  armistice  was  broken  by  the  King  of 
Sweden.  It  looked  as  if  he  had  awaited  the  very 
moment  when  Napoleon  could  dispose  of  all  his  forces 
to   commit   this    imprudent   act.      The    Swedes   were 


NAPOLEON    I.  459 

thereupon  expelled  from  Pomerania,  which  was  occu- 
pied by  the  French  troops,  as  also  from  Stralsund  and 
the  island  of  Rugen.  'ihe  King,  having  in  this  way 
lost  his  posessions  in  Germany,  returned  to  Sweden. 

During  his  stay  at  Osterode,  the  Emperor  had  un- 
dertaken the  siege  of  Dantzig,  which,  for  the  success 
of  his  military  operations,  it  was  highly  important 
for  him  to  occupy.  He  had  intended  to  appoint 
Marshal  Victor  to  the  command  of  the  besieging 
army,  but  this  soldier  was  taken  prisoner  on  his  way 
to  his  post  by  the  Prussian  Schill.  whom  we  shall  see 
playing  a  more  important  part  in  the  war  of  1809 
against  Austria.  Marshal  Lefebvre  was  then  com- 
missioned to  conduct  the  siege,  Marshal  Kalkrcuth. 
on  his  side,  defendins:  Dantzier  with  stubborn  courage. 
The  Emperor  Alexander  and  the  King  of  Prussia, 
feeling  how  necessary  it  was  to  save  this  fortified 
place,  sent  reinforcements,  but  all  their  attempts  to 
raise  the  siege  were  in  vain.  An  English  corvette, 
the  Sans  Peur — carrying  tw'enty-four  cannons,  and 
freighted  with  powder  and  cannon  balls — was 
boarded  and  captured  by  a  picket  of  the  regiment  of 
Paris.  Lacking  it  is  true  in  deep  science.  Marshal 
Lefebvre  displayed  all  his  bravery  and  all  his  activity 
in  the  task  which  had  been  entrusted  to  him,  and  Gen- 
eral Chasseloup  directed  the  operations  of  the  siege 
with  skill.  At  last,  after  a  resistance  of  two  months, 
which  did  great  credit  to  the  Prussian  general,  at  the 
very  moment  when  the  town  was  going  to  be  taken  by 
storm,  Kalkreuth  asked  to  capitulate.  In  recognition 
of  his  brave  defence  Napoleon  granted  him  honour- 
able terms.  The  same  day,  Marshal  Lefebvre  made 
his  entry  into  the  town. 

It  was  at  Finckcnstein,  on  May  29th,  that  the  Em- 
peror heard  the  news  of  the  surrender  of  Dantzig. 
He  at  once  sent  General  Rapp  to  take  over  the  com- 


46o  MEMOIRS    OF 

mand  of  this  place.  Napoleon  went  himself  to  spend 
two  days  there,  and  to  visit  his  new  conquest.  He 
approved  of  the  works  which  had  been  executed  by 
the  engineers,  and  complimented  Marshal  Lefebvre 
on  his  splendid  conduct.  He  created  him  Duke  of 
Dantzig,  and  handsomely  endowed  the  new  title.  He 
authorized  him  to  accept  a  considerable  sum  of  money, 
the  exact  amount  of  which  I  forget,  which  the  states 
had  offered  of  their  own  accord  to  the  Marshal,  but 
which  he  had  refused  to  accept  without  the  Emperor's 
permission.  On  leaving  the  Sovereign,  the  new  Duke 
slipped.  He  was  not  superstitious,  and  so,  picking 
himself  up,  he  said  good-naturedly :  "Egad,  my  good 
,  town  of  Dantzig  is  badly  paved."  Napoleon  having 
distributed  numerous  rewards  amongst  the  soldiers 
who  had  taken  part  in  the  siege,  returned  to  Fincken- 
stein  by  way  of  Marienburg,  to  prepare  to  resume  the 
offensive. 

In  spite  of  his  success  and  of  the  satisfactory  state 
of  his  army,  which  had  recruited  itself  in  the  can- 
tonments, the  Emperor  was  anxious  on  account  of 
his  difficult  situation  between  obstinate  enemies  and 
doubtful  allies,  and  on  account  also  of  his  prolonged 
absence  from  France.  He  was  not  in  ignorance  of 
the  fact  that  it  was  the  victory  of  Jena  alone  which 
had  prevented  the  Austrian  Ministry  from  declaring 
itself  against  him,  and  the  Spanish  Cabinet  from  at- 
tacking him.  He  strongly  inclined  to  prefer  an  ad- 
vantageous peace  to  continuing  the  war,  although  he 
considered  himself  very  well  able  to  stand  against  his 
enemies.  Napoleon  had  showed  the  most  conciliatory 
disposition.  He  had  offered  to  conclude  a  treaty  with 
the  Russians  on  the  same  conditions  as  those  which 
were  signed  in  the  preceding  month  of  July  by  M. 
d'Oubril,  at  Paris.  He  was  not  indisposed  to  restore 
his   provinces   and   capital  to   the   King  of   Prussia. 


NAPOLEON    I.  461 

The  Prussian  Cabinet  had  declared  that  it  could  not 
separate  its  cause  from  that  of  its  ally,  and,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  it  was  in  the  hands  of  Russia.  The  Aus- 
trian Cabinet,  which  had  sent  M.  Vincent  to  Warsaw, 
where  the  Emperor  had  left  him  with  M.  de  Talley- 
rand, wanted  nothing  better  than  to  intervene  in  the 
negotiation.  Forced  to  declare  itself,  Austria  had 
offered  her  mediation  with  the  mental  reservation 
of  swaying  the  negotiations,  or  of  crushing  us  in  case 
reserves  came  upon  us.  The  Emperor  had  accepted 
the  mediation  of  this  power  so  as  to  be  consistent 
with  the  pacific  sentiments  which  he  had  expressed. 
England  approved.  Prussia  seemed  inclined  to  accept, 
but  the  Emperor  of  Russia  dissuaded  the  King  of 
Prussia.  The  Czar's  armies  had  been  strongly  rein- 
forced, and  the  half-success  of  the  battle  of  Eylau, 
which  his  generals  represented  to  him  as  a  victory, 
had  given  Alexander  confidence.  He  had  made  tempt- 
ing promises  to  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  had  induced 
this  prince  to  conclude,  at  Bartenstein.  a  convention 
which  was  a  trial  of  the  agreements  which  were  nego- 
tiated and  concluded  in  1813,  with  greater  success. 
The  object  of  this  convention  was  the  re-establishment 
of  the  Prussian  monarchy,  the  restoration  of  their 
independence  to  the  German  States,  and  the  realiza- 
tion of  important  projects  against  France  in  the  event 
of  the  war  having  a  favourable  termination.  England 
and  Sweden  agreed  to  the  Bartenstein  convention, 
but  Austria  refused  to  take  part  in  it.  In  the  mean- 
while the  reunion  of  a  general  congress  in  which  all 
the  belligerent  powers  in  Europe  were  to  be  repre- 
sented had  been  proposed  to  the  Emperor  and  agreed 
to  by  him  under  certain  reservations.  The  allies  ex- 
pressed a  wish  to  hear  on  what  basis  Napoleon  pro- 
posed to  treat,  whilst  they  them.selvcs  suggested  none. 
Napoleon   had  answered   without   hesitation   that  his 


462  MEMOIRS    OF 

bases  would  be  equality,  reciprocity  and  a  system  of 
equitable  compensations.  Our  enemies  no  doubt  con- 
sidered this  moderation  as  a  proof  of  weakness  on  his 
part,  and  all  the  more  in  consequence  staked  their 
hopes  on  the  hazards  of  war,  for,  at  the  very  moment 
when  it  was  thought  that  the  last  obstacle  to  the  con- 
gress had  been  removed,  the  Russian  army  marched 
out  of  its  encampment  and  attacked  the  French  army. 

The  consequence  of  this  attack  was  to  force  the 
Emperor  to  leave  Finckenstein  hastily.  I  followed 
him  as  far  as  Dantzig.  I  was  detained  by  sickness 
for  a  fortnight  in  this  town,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  I  rejoined  Napoleon.  Marshal  Ney,  attacked 
by  a  large  portion  of  the  Russian  army,  made  a 
firm  resistance.  He  retreated  in  good  order  and  held 
his  own  until  the  French  army  had  been  assembled. 
It  was  then  Napoleon  who  took  the  offensive.  The 
victories  of  Heilsberg  and  Friedland  followed.  This 
last  battle  was  decisive,  for  the  Russian  army  was 
crushed  and  forced  to  take  refuge  beyond  the  Niemen. 
The  defeat  of  her  allies  deprived  Prussia  of  her  last 
resources  and  did  away  with  all  hope  of  re-establish- 
ing her  affairs.  The  Emperor  of  Russia  was  reduced 
to  ask  for  an  armistice,  during  which  negotiations 
for  peace  might  be  entered  upon.  Napoleon  made  no 
difficulty  in  accepting  this  proposal  and  despatched 
General  Duroc  to  arrange  the  conditions  of  the  truce. 

My  health  having  been  restored  by  rest,  and  our 
great  victories  having  also  contributed  to  my  cure,  I 
was  impatient  to  rejoin  the  Emperor.  On  my  way 
through  Koenigsberg,  where  General  Savary,  whose 
services  and  unfailing  fidelity  were  recompensed  six 
months  later  with  the  title  of  Duke  of  Rovigo,  had 
been  left  as  governor  of  the  city,  I  saw  Prince  de 
Benevent  who  was  awaiting  the  Emperor's  orders 
there.     I  preceded  him  by  some  days  and  proceeded 


NAPOLEON    I.  463 

in  company  with  the  Count  de  Turenne,  chamberlain 
and  orderly  officer,  to  head-quarters.  We  passed 
through  the  forest  of  Wehlau.  which  was  said  to  be 
full  of  peasants  who  had  taken  refuge  there,  and  who 
used  to  sally  out  on  expeditions  against  the  rear  of 
the  army.  Although  we  were  without  escort  we  were 
lucky  enough  not  to  make  any  bad  encounters. 

The  Emperor  had  been  in  Tilsitt  three  days  when 
I  arrived  there.  Almost  simultaneously,  General 
Duroc  arrived  from  carrying  the  ratification  of  the 
armistice,  concluded  between  the  two  armies,  to  the 
Emperor  Alexander's  head-quarters.  I  heard  that 
this  was  his  second  journc}-  and  that  an  interview 
between  the  two  Emperors  had  been  agreed  upon.  It 
duly  took  place,  two  days  later,  in  a  tent  which  had 
been  erected  on  a  raft  moored  in  the  middle  of  the 
Niemen.  Napoleon  who  had  arrived  first  crossed 
through  the  tent  and  went  to  meet  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander. The  two  sovereigns,  with  a  spontaneous  move- 
ment fell  into  each  other's  arms  and  embraced.  It 
was  a  beautiful  sight  and  its  impressiveness  was  in- 
creased by  the  cheers  of  the  two  armies  drawn  up  on 
either  side  of  the  river,  cheers  which  starting  from 
the  right  shore  and  echoed  back  from  the  left,  mingled 
in  one  loud  shout.  A  second  interview  to  which  the 
Emperor  Alexander  brought  the  King  of  Prussia  took 
place  on  the  same  raft,  on  the  morrow.  The  two 
foreign  sovereigns  afterwards  established  themselves 
in  the  town  of  Tilsitt,  which  had  been  rendered  neu- 
tral for  the  time  being.  The  two  armies  kept  their 
respective  positions  on  the  two  banks  of  the  Niemen 
and  a  perfectly  friendly  understanding  grew  up  be- 
tween them. 

On  the  day  on  which  the  two  Emperors  returned 
into  the  town,  a  dinner  was  given  at  Napoleon's  quar- 
ters.    On  the  nifjrrow  and   following  days  they  rode 


464  MEMOIRS    OF 

out  together,  accompanied  by  the  King  of  Prussia. 
The  object  of  their  rides  was  to  visit  the  various 
encampments  of  their  armies.  They  held  reviews, 
they  ate  of  the  soldiers'  soup,  and  paid  each  other  all 
the  usual  compliments.  The  Emperor  Alexander  took 
pleasure  in  exhibiting  his  picked  men,  the  Russian 
guards  and  the  Cossack  regulars.  Napoleon  admired 
them,  and  even  distributed  some  decorations  of  the 
Legion  of  Honour  amongst  them.  So  intimate  did 
the  two  Emperors  become,  that,  when  on  returning 
from  their  excursions  the  Czar  was  to  dine  with  Na- 
poleon, the  latter  would  not  allow  him  to  go  home  to 
change  his  dress.  He  used  to  send  somebody  to  the 
house  where  Alexander  lived  to  fetch  the  things  he 
needed.  He  used  to  send  him  his  own  cravats  and 
handkerchiefs  through  his  valet.  He  placed  his  big 
gold  travelling  bag  at  his  disposal,  and  as  Alexander 
had  praised  the  carvings  of  the  various  fittings,  and 
the  way  in  which  the  bag  was  arranged,  Napoleon 
made  him  a  present  of  it  before  they  separated.  When 
they  returned  before  the  dinner-hour  it  was  for  the 
sake  of  a  free  tete-a-tete.  On  such  occasions  they  used 
to  leave  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  go  into  a  little  gal- 
lery which  adjoined  the  Emperor's  work-room.  Some- 
times Napoleon  would  bring  the  Czar  into  his  study 
and  ask  for  his  maps,  which  included  one  of  Turkey 
in  Europe.  I  have  seen  them  bending  over  this  map 
and  then  continuing  their  conversation  as  they  walked 
up  and  down.  Schemes  of  partition  were  occupying 
them.  Constantinople  was  the  only  point  on  which 
they  were  not  visibly  agreed. 

It  was  easy  to  see  that  Napoleon  did  not  wish  these 
questions  to  give  rise  to  any  discussions  likely  to 
trouble  the  harmony  which  had  been  re-established 
between  them,  and  that  a  tacit  agreement  had  been 
come  to,  to  maintain,  provisionally  at  least,  the  statu 


NAPOLEON    I.  465 

quo.  It  would,  moreover,  be  difficult  to  assign  any 
results  to  the  conversations  which  I  overheard  in  the 
study,  which  for  the  most  part  began  but  did  not  end ; 
or  having  begun  outside,  ended  there.  Nothing  be- 
sides was  written  on  this  subject.  In  their  familiar 
conversations  the  two  Emperors  often  spoke  of  home 
politics  and  forms  of  government.  Alexander  used 
to  describe  a  hereditary  crown  as  a  source  of  abuses, 
whilst  Napoleon  could  not  find  arguments  enough  to 
prove  that  it  was  precisely  a  hereditary  monarchy 
which  assured  the  peace  and  the  happiness  of  the 
people.  The  Emperor  Napoleon  in  relating  these  con- 
versations used  to  say  that  if  the  opinions  expressed 
by  Alexander  were  not  the  outcome  of  what  he  had 
been  taught  by  his  tutor,  the  Swiss  colonel  Laharpe, 
they  were  the  effect  of  his  tendencies  to  mysticism. 
It  may  be  supposed,  seeing  that  Alexander's  conduct 
was  not  entirely  straightforward,  that  his  arguments, 
though  seriously  expressed,  were  only  spoken  with  a 
purpose,  and  were  far  from  being  his  real  opinions. 

The  Emperor  Alexander  was  tall,  well-built,  and 
elegant.  He  spoke  French  without  any  accent,  and 
always  expressed  himself  with  grace  and  dignity.  His 
way  of  receiving  people  was  familiar  rather  than  im- 
posing, and  his  manners  were  open,  though  his  look 
was  not  always  a  frank  one.  He  used  to  listen  to 
Napoleon  with  extreme  interest,  and  behaved  with 
filial  deference  towards  him.  He  used  to  walk  with 
his  head  slightly  bent  on  one  side,  from  the  habit  of 
bending  down  to  listen  through  deafness  in  one  ear. 
Possibly  he  wanted  to  resemble  Alexander  the  Great 
in  this  respect. 

The  Queen  of  Prussia  came  to  Tilsitt,  ten  or  twelve 
days  after  the  Xiemen  interview,  accompanied  by  her 
mistress  of  the  robes.  Countess  de  Voss.  The  Queen 
was  a  woman  of  middle  height  but  very  imposing,  and 


466  MEMOIRS    OF 

her  profile  was  an  admirable  one.  Her  beauty  was 
splendid  although  she  was  at  that  time  no  longer  in 
the  freshness  of  youth,  being  thirty-two  years  old.  I 
saw  her  when  she  came  to  dine  with  the  Emperor. 
She  had  relied  on  the  resources  of  her  wit  and  her 
charms  to  obtain  better  terms  for  Prussia.  But  though 
Napoleon  affected  a  gallant  and  respectful  bearing 
towards  her,  all  the  complaints,  prayers,  and  impor- 
tunities of  this  deeply  humiliated  queen,  all  the  femi- 
nine wiles  to  which  she  had  recourse  were  bound  to 
fail,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  did  fail  before  the  stern 
exigencies  of  politics.  Besides,  the  Queen  had  come 
after  all  had  been  settled.  She  effected  nothing  but 
to  hasten  on  the  conclusion  of  the  two  treaties  with 
Russia  and  Prussia. 

On  the  morrow  of  the  Queen's  arrival,  three  treaties 
were  signed.  One  of  these  was  between  France  and 
Russia,  another  was  between  France  and  Prussia. 
The  third  was  a  separate  treaty  which  the  two  emper- 
ors mutually  engaged  to  keep  a  profound  secret.  The 
two  first  treaties  are  known.  The  secret  treaty  itself 
has  become  public  property  since  the  circumstances 
have  ceased  to  exist  under  the  influence  of  which  it 
was  concluded.  The  two  allied  powers  engaged  in 
this  treaty  to  make  common  cause  in  any  and  every 
eventuality,  to  force  England  to  peace,  to  take  away 
all  the  Porte's  European  provinces,  with  the  exception 
of  Constantinople,  to  force  Portugal  and  the  Northern 
powers  to  close  their  ports  against  English  trade,  and 
to  use  their  influence  to  induce  Austria  to  declare  war 
on  her  side  against  England. 

An  article  of  the  treaty  with  Russia,  mentioned  that 
it  was  out  of  consideration  for  the  Emperor  Alexan- 
der that  the  Emperor  Napoleon  consented  to  restore 
to  the  King  of  Prussia  the  provinces  which  were  left 
to  him.    This  loss  amounted  to  about  half  of  the  whole 


NAPOLEON    I.  467 

territon'  which  had  belonged  to  the  King-  of  Prussia 
before  the  war.  The  principal  conditions  of  the  pub- 
lic treaties  were  the  creation  of  a  new  kingdom  in 
favour  of  Jerome  Bonaparte.  Napoleon's  youngest 
brother,  and  ihe  establishment  of  a  Grand-duchy  of 
Warsaw  out  of  the  Polish  provinces  which  Prussia  had 
lost.  This  new  state  was  given  to  the  King  of  Sax- 
ony, with  the  e.xception  of  the  district  of  Byalystock, 
which  was  detached  from  these  provinces  and  ceded 
to  Russia. 

The  constitution  which  Napoleon  gave  to  the  Grand- 
duchy  of  Warsaw  was  conceived  in  a  manner  to  assure 
to  the  inhabitants  of  this  State  institutions  for  the 
protection  of  their  liberties  conciliating  these  with  the 
tranquillity  of  the  Poli::h  provinces  incorporated  with 
Russia  and  Austria.  This  constitution  abolished  serf- 
dom, and  made  all  citizens  equal  before  the  law,  de- 
clared that  the  Napoleonic  code  should  be  the  civil  law 
of  the  state,  and  prescribed  that  all  trials,  whether 
civil  or  criminal,  should  be  held  in  public.  It  sup- 
pressed the  diets,  the  pospolita,  the  libcnan  veto  and 
all  the  other  privileges  of  the  Polish  nobility,  which 
had  been  the  causes  of  troubles  and  anarchy  in  the 
kingdom.  The  executive  power  was  vested  in  the 
Grand-duke,  the  legislative  power  was  attributed  to  a 
Senate  composed  of  a  minimum  of  eighteen  and  a 
maximum  of  thirty  members,  and  to  a  house  of  nun- 
cios, composed  of  one  hundred  deputies  from  the  dis- 
tricts and  communes.  These  chambers  had  the  power 
of  passing  or  of  rejecting  the  laws  which  in  every  case 
had  to  be  presented  to  them  on  the  initiative  of  the 
Grand-duke. 

The  creation  of  the  Grand-duchy  of  Warsaw  in 
favour  of  the  King  of  Saxony,  whose  predecessors 
had  reigned  in  Poland,  had  so  great  an  influence  on 
the  subsequent  relations  between  the  Russian  and  the 


468  MEMOIRS    OF 

French  empires  that  the  mere  mention  of  so  import- 
ant an  event  will  not  suffice.  The  Grand-Duchy  was 
formed  of  provinces  which  had  belonged  to  the  old 
Polish  monarchy,  which  Prussia  had  obtained  at  the 
various  divisions,  and  which  she  had  just  lost  by  the 
fate  of  war.  Russia  had  no  scruples  about  profiting 
by  a  small  part  of  her  ally's  losses.  The  importance 
of  the  creation  of  the  Grand-duchy  of  Warsaw  can- 
not have  been  misunderstood  by  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander, and  if  he  assisted  in  this  matter  it  was  because 
he  did  not  feel  himself  sufficiently  strong  at  the  time 
to  oppose  it.  We  shall  see  him  later  on,  when  Russia 
had  repaired  her  losses,  had  realized  the  most  solid 
advantages  of  the  treaty  of  Tilsitt,  and  had  finished 
the  conquest  of  Finland,  expressing  his  displeasure 
at  the  enlargement  of  the  Duchy  of  Warsaw,  which, 
however,  could  with  difficulty  be  considered  as  any- 
thing else  than  a  stepping-stone.  The  creation  of  this 
State,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  seemed  a  kind  of  forerunner 
to  the  re-establishment  of  the  Polish  monarchy,  and 
this  capital  question  was  the  rock  on  which  the  Franco- 
Russian  alliance  was  to  break.  The  treaty  of  Tilsitt 
might  have  become  the  instrument  of  the  reconstitu- 
tion  of  the  Kingdom  of  Poland,  and  it  is  perhaps  a 
matter  of  regret  that  the  iniquitous  parcelling  out  of 
this  brave  nation  was  not  repaired  by  its  means.  The 
Emperor,  encouraged  by  the  prodigious  success  of  the 
campaign  which  had  rendered  him  master  of  the  whole 
Kingdom  of  Prussia,  was  for  a  moment  tempted  to 
dispose  of  Silesia  in  exchange  for  Galicia  with  Aus- 
tria. Napoleon  would  in  this  way  have  been  able  to 
reconstitute  the  Kingdom  of  Poland,  less  the  missing 
Russian  provinces,  on  the  most  solid  basis;  but  this 
restoration  could  not  be  but  the  work  of  time.  At  the 
time  of  the  peace  of  Tilsitt  numerous  obstacles  stood 
in  the  way  of  the  realization  of  Napoleon's  good  in- 


NAPOLEON    I.  469 

tentions.  The  Emperor  Alexander  could  not  with 
decency  give  countenance  to  the  infliction  of  fresh 
sacrifices  on  his  ally.  By  acting  in  spite  of  him  Napo- 
leon would  have  dissatisfied  Russia  without  concili- 
ating Austria,  whose  tendencies  were  the  constant 
object  of  his  suspicion.  And  moreover  he  was  anx- 
ious for  a  settlement ;  his  absence,  which  had  already 
been  too  greatly  prolonged,  the  distance  he  was  from 
France,  and  other  considerations — the  influence  of 
which  he  no  doubt  had  appreciated,  and  of  which  he 
had  measured  all  the  importance — induced  him  to 
abandon  a  plan  which,  no  doubt,  afterwards  he  re- 
gretted not  to  have  carried  out  to  the  end. 

The  Russian  alliance  sealed  at  Tilsitt,  as  well  as 
the  triumphs  of  the  two  immortal  campaigns  which 
had  preceded  it,  lifted  the  power  and  the  glory  of  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  to  their  highest  summits.  The 
consequences  to  France  were,  of  necessity,  immense. 
It  was  only  after  the  disaster  at  Moscow  that  cause 
for  blame  was  found.  Adversity  undertook,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,. to  prove  that  this  treaty  contained  in  germ 
the  ruin  of  the  Empire.  Adversity  discovered  that 
the  Emperor  could  have  crossed  the  Niemen  after  the 
victory  of  Friedland,  and  could  have  followed  up  his 
successes  with  a  powerful  army  at  a  time  when  the 
Russian  and  Prussian  forces  were  almost  entirely 
destroyed.  Napoleon  had  good  reasons  for  acting 
thus,  but  no  doubt  he  had  better  reasons  for  stopping 
at  the  time  we  are  speaking  of,  and  for  concluding 
the  important  treaty  of  Friedland,  although  politicians 
have  blamed  him,  perhaps  not  without  reason,  for 
placing  too  much  trust  in  the  Emperor  Alexander,  and 
for  leaving  Prussia  either  too  strong  or  too  weak. 

The  decree  issued  at  Berlin,  by  which  the  British 
isles  were  declared  in  a  state  of  blockade,  in  creating 
the  continental  system,  rendered  it  necessary  to  take 


470  MEMOIRS    OF 

extraordinary  measures  for  carrying  it  out,  so  that  no 
loophole  might  be  left  open  to  English  commerce. 
The  uneasiness  caused  by  the  interruption  of  maritime 
trade,  tended,  as  can  be  easily  understood,  to  tire  out 
the  perseverance  of  the  states  involved  in  the  continen- 
tal system;  but  the  power  which  first  violated  it, 
although  suffering  less  thereby  than  other  powers,  was 
Russia — restored  to  confidence  and  strength  by  her  al- 
liance with  France.  The  treaty  of  Tilsitt,  which  inaug- 
urated this  alliance,  brought  with  it  a  system  of  conces- 
sions the  entire  advantage  of  which  was  in  favour  of 
the  Russian  Empire.  Disadvantages  and  dangers  were 
all  that  France  ever  derived  from  this  treaty.  The  prin- 
cipal results  of  this  agreement  were  to  place  Russia 
at  once,  and  on  easy  terms,  in  possession  of  Finland, 
to  involve  us  in  the  unfortunate  Spanish  campaign, 
and  to  prevent  the  restoration  of  Poland.  The  French 
alliance  stimulated  anew  the  insatiable  greed  of  Rus- 
sia. This  favourable  circumstance,  arousing  the  Czar's 
claims  on  the  Ottoman  Empire,  encouraged  him  to  ask 
for  its  division  and  the  occupation  of  Constantinople. 
Napoleon's  just  refusal  awoke  a  feeling  of  discontented 
coolness  in  Alexander's  bosom,  which  he  did  his  best 
to  disguise  under  the  appearance  of  the  most  captivat- 
ing friendship,  and  which,  after  our  troubles  with 
Spain,  and  the  inevitable  consequences  of  the  conti- 
nental blockade  transformed  itself  into  open  enmity. 
The  difficulties  created  by  these  various  causes  were 
great,  but  not  insurmountable.  It  needed  the  disasters 
of  Moscow  and  of  Leipzig  to  overthrow  the  beautiful 
monument  of  Napoleon's  glory. 

One  of  the  most  iniquitous  and  most  barbarous  acts 
of  English  politics,  committed  shortly  after  the  treaty 
of  Tilsitt,  excited  general  indignation  in  Europe.  An 
English  fleet,   freighted  with  an  army  of  thirty-five 


NAPOLEON    I.  4/1 

thousand  men,  under  the  command  of  General  Cath- 
cart,  suddenly  appeared  off  the  coasts  of  Denmark, 
although  the  Danish  Government  had  done  nothing 
whatever  to  furnish  England  with  a  pretext  for  an 
attack.  The  only  excuse  which  the  British  Govern- 
ment dared  to  make  for  this  atrocious  violation  of 
international  laws  was.  that  to  all  appearances,  it  was 
the  intention  of  the  Danish  Government  to  ally  its 
naval  forces  with  those  of  France.  Denmark  was 
reposing  in  the  security  of  peace;  no  means  of  defence 
had  been  prepared  either  at  Copenhagen  or  on  the 
island  of  Zeeland,  and  as  the  whole  Danish  army  was 
on  the  continent  it  was  impossible  to  forsee  any  attack 
on  this  island.  An  English  agent  presents  himself 
and  without  opening  any  negotiation,  without  taking 
the  trouble  to  justify  his  mission,  without  giving  any 
alternative,  signifies  to  the  Danish  Government  an 
order  to  hand  over  the  Danish  fleet  to  the  admiral  in 
command  of  the  English  expedition,  and  on  these  de- 
mands being  refused,  threatens  to  burn  down  Copen- 
hagen. So  insolent  an  ultimatum  could  not  be  accep- 
ted. Accordingly,  on  September  2nd.  1807,  a  day  of 
sinister  memory,  there  begins,  without  any  other  for- 
mality, the  bombardment  of  the  Danish  capital,  which 
lasted  with  horrible  intensity  for  three  days.  A  great 
part  of  the  city  was  reduced  to  ashes,  and  on  the  7th 
the  governor  capitulated  to  avoid  its  entire  destruction. 
The  Crown  Prince,  who  was  away  from  his  capital. 
had  sent  orders  that  the  fleet  was  to  be  burned,  but 
these  orders  had  never  reached  their  destination.  More 
than  sixty  ves.sels.  frigates,  brigs,  and  other  ships,  to- 
gether with  the  entire  naval  munitions,  fell  intn  the 
hands  of  the  English,  who  destroyed  or  burned  what- 
ever they  could  not  carry  away.  The  general  feeling  in 
Europe  was  one  of  indignant  rei)robation  of  this  act 
of  savage  violence.     The  English  Ministry  replied  to 


472  MEMOIRS    OF 

the  vehement  attacks,  which  were  made  on  it  on  this 
occasion  in  ParHament,  by  declaring  that  the  revela- 
tions of  secret  engagements  entered  upon  at  Tilsitt  by 
the  two  Emperors,  had  made  it  necessary  to  order  the 
Copenhagen  expedition,  but  it  was  unable  to  furnish 
any  proof  of  the  truth  of  these  allegations.  Suspicions 
have  attached  in  this  matter  to  M.  de  Talleyrand's 
friends.  Although  these  suspicions  were  never  proved 
to  be  well-founded,  I  must  say  that  the  Emperor  had 
occasion  to  find  out  that  breaches  of  confidence  had 
been  committed  before  that  time  under  M.  de  Talley- 
rand's Ministry,  and  that  important  documents  taken 
from  the  Foreign  Office  had  been  communicated  to 
foreign  powers.  An  act  of  treachery  of  this  kind  was 
the  reason  of  the  dismissal  and  banishment  of  a  former 
head  of  the  secretary's  office  in  this  ministry,  whom 
Napoleon  did  not  allow  to  return  to  France  until  long 
after. 

The  triumphs  of  Napoleon  and  of  our  armies  were 
counterbalanced  by  a  misfortune  which  came  upon  the 
imperial  family  in  May,  1807.  The  death  of  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Holland  overthrew  the  hopes  and  the 
projects  which  were  staked  on  this  child's  head,  and 
the  realization  of  which,  if  he  had  lived,  might  per- 
haps have  prevented  the  Emperor's  second  marriage 
with  a  foreign  princess.  Napoleon  was  much  attached 
to  this  nephew,  the  son  of  his  adopted  daughter.  In 
the  summer  months  which  the  Emperor  was  able  to 
spend  at  St.  Cloud,  this  child  used  sometimes  to  be 
brought  under  the  windows  of  his  cabinet,  which 
opened  out  on  the  parterre.  When  Napoleon  saw  him 
he  used  to  go  and  kiss  him.  I  used  sometimes  to  see 
him  carrying  the  child  in  his  arms  as  he  came  in  to 
resume  some  work  in  w^hich  he  had  been  interrupted. 
Napoleon-Charles — such  was  the  child's  name — was 


NAPOLEON    I.  473 

not  yet  five  years  old.  w  hen  he  was  suddenly  snatched 
from  his  mother's  arms — leaving  her,  for  some  time, 
demented  with  sorrow.  Napoleon,  greatly  grieved 
bv  this  loss,  sent  his  sister  Caroline  to  comfort  the 
unhappy  parents,  who  had  retired  to  the  Palace  of 
Loo.  in  Holland.  Queen  Hortense  left  the  kingdom 
on  this  occasion  and  went  to  the  springs  in  the  Pyre- 
nees. King  Louis  accompanied  her,  wishing  to  try 
the  effect  of  these  waters  on  his  health,  which  time 
and  the  damp  climate  of  Holland  had  considerably 
afifected.  He  spent  the  months  of  June  and  July 
there.  Croup,  of  which  the  young  prince  died,  was  at 
that  time  little  known.  Napoleon  offered  a  prize  of 
twelve  thousand  francs  to  the  author  of  the  best  essay 
on  the  means  to  prevent  and  cure  this  cruel  disease, 
so  sudden  in  its  attacks,  and  so  rapid  in  its  progress. 
It  has  been  noticed  that  it  was  on  the  same  date,  IMay 
6th,  fourteen  years  later,  that  the  Emperor  was  by 
death  reunited  to  the  young  nephew  whom  he  had 
thought  of  appointing  his  heir. 

The  deposition  of  Selim,  and  this  monarch's  tragic 
death,  which  shortly  followed,  were  another  misfor- 
tune. If  this  prince,  who  was  worthy  of  a  better  fate, 
had  lived,  the  treaty  of  Bucharest,  which  was  so  fatal 
to  us  in  1812,  would  doubtless  never  have  been  con- 
cluded. 

On  July  9th.  1807.  after  an  exchange  of  the  rati- 
fications of  the  treaties  which  had  been  signed  the 
day  before,  Napoleon,  wearing  the  grand  cordon  of 
the  Russian  Order  of  Saint  Andrew,  proceeded  to 
the  Emperor  of  Russia,  who  received  him  at  the  head 
of  his  guard,  wearing  the  grand  cordon  of  the  Legion 
of  Honour.  Napoleon  had  the  soldier  of  the  Russian 
imperial  guard  who  had  most  distinguished  himself. 
presented  to  him,  and  handed  him  the  gulden  eagle 


474  MEMOIRS    OF 

of  the  Legion  of  Honour  as  a  proof  of  his  esteem  for 
the  Russian  guardsman.  He  also  presented  his  por- 
trait to  General  Platow,  hetman  of  the  Cossacks. 

After  three  hours'  conversation  Napoleon  accompa- 
nied Alexander  to  the  bank  of  the  Niemen,  where  the 
Czar  embarked.  The  two  sovereigns  separated  after 
the  most  affectionate  leave-taking.  The  King  of 
Prussia,  after  an  exchange  of  purely  formal  visits,  took 
leave  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  and  proceeded  to  Me- 
mel.  Napoleon  on  his  side  set  out  at  once  for  Koenigs- 
berg. 

The  Emperors  of  Russia  and  France  had  spent 
twenty  days  at  Tilsitt.  Their  residences  in  this  city 
were  quite  close  to  each  other,  and  in  the  same  street. 
During  all  this  time  Napoleon  and  Alexander  showed 
the  greatest  friendship  for  each  other.  Who  would 
not  have  seen  in  their  intimacy  a  solid  guarantee  for 
the  peace  of  Europe?  It  is  necessary  to  believe  that 
Alexander's  professions  of  friendship  were  sincere  at 
the  time. 

Napoleon  halted  one  day  in  Koenigsberg  and  settled 
the  dates  on  which  the  Prussian  provinces  still  oc- 
cupied by  the  French  troops,  should  be  evacuated,  as- 
signing to  each  army  corps  the  place  which  it  should 
occupy. 

The  Emperor  sent  General  Savary  direct  to  St. 
Petersburg  from  Koeingsberg.  The  mission  of  this  gen- 
eral— who  had  received  instructions  both  concise  and 
broad,  but  which  had  no  official  character — had  for  its 
object  the  keeping  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  in  the 
frame  of  mind  which  had  dictated  the  treaty  of  Tilsitt, 
and  the  hurrying  on  of  the  execution  of  the  various 
stipulations  of  the  treaties;  he  was  also  to  superintend 
the  choice  and  speedy  departure  of  a  Russian  ambassa- 
dor to  Paris,  and  finally  to  reside  in  St.  Petersburg 
until  further  orders. 


NAPOLEON    I.  475 

Napoleon  then  proceeded  to  Dresden,  where  he  spent 
three  days.  He  received  sincere  proofs  of  gratitude 
and  attachment  from  the  worthy  King  of  Saxony.  He 
settled  with  Labouillerie,  general  paymaster  to  the 
Great  Army,  whom  he  appointed  treasurer  of  the  ex- 
traordinary domain,  all  matters  connected  with  the 
levies  on  Prussia  and  the  conquered  provinces  which 
amounted  altogether  to  more  than  six  hundred  mil- 
lions of  francs. 

Napoleon  returned  to  St.  Cloud  with  all  speed,  and 
without  stopping  on  the  way.  He  arrived  there  on 
July  27th.  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning.  He  dined 
with  his  family,  the  Archchancellor  Cambaceres  being 
present.  In  the  evening  he  saw  the  ministers  and  on 
the  morrow  he  received  the  congratulations  of  the 
great  corporations  of  State. 

The  Emperor's  return,  after  an  absence  of  ten 
months,  the  longest  he  had  ever  made,  was  hailed  with 
universal  satisfaction.  The  prosperity  enjoyed  by  all 
classes  evoked  a  feeling  of  gratitude  and  warm  sym- 
pathy for  the  man  who  had  just  crowned  the  most 
unheard-of  successes  with  the  most  glorious  peace, 
'fhe  hope  that  this  peace  would  be  durable  filled  every 
heart  with  gladness.  Paris  was  delighted,  and  a  gen- 
eral illumination  was  spontaneously  improvised  on  the 
very  evening  of  the  Emperor's  arrival. 

Napoleon's  first  care  was  to  develop  the  prosperity 
of  the  country  at  home  and  to  do  everything  necessary 
to  strengthen  its  security,  a  security  which  had  not 
l)een  in  the  least  disturbed  during  his  long  absence 
from  home.  He  then  turned  his  attention  to  foreign 
affairs,  and  sought  the  l3est  means  for  inducing  the 
European  powers,  including  Austria,  to  declare  against 
I*-ngland, — the  realization,  in  short,  of  the  advantages 
which  he  had  looked  for  from  the  treaty  of  Tilsitt. 

Napoleon  proceeded  also  with  the  organization  of 


476  MEMOIRS    OF 

the  kingdom  of  Westphalia,  which  had  been  created 
by  this  treaty  in  favour  of  Jerome  Bonaparte.  This 
kingdom  had  been  put  together  out  of  the  Electorate 
of  Hesse-Cassel,  joined  to  the  Duchy  of  Brunswick 
and  other  provinces  in  Germany  which  had  been  ceded 
by  Prussia.  Hanover  also  became  an  integral  part  of 
the  kingdom  of  Westphalia  in  1810,  Marshal  Mortier 
had  been  commissioned  to  take  possession  of  these 
various  States. 

There  was,  amongst  other  rich  artistic  collections 
at  Cassel,  a  fine  picture  gallery ;  and  some  of  the  finest 
pictures  were  sent  to  Paris.  Two  of  these,  of  the 
greatest  value — the  best  works  of  Paul  Potter — were 
offered  to  the  Empress  Josephine,  who  had  them 
placed  in  her  gallery  at  La  Malmaison.  One  was  "  The 
Farm  at  Amsterdam,  "  which  is  more  generally  known 
by  a  vulgar  name,  and  the  other  was  "  Men  Chased 
by  Animals."  I  remember  seeing  these  pictures  there. 
They  were  admired  by  all  connoisseurs,  and  used  to 
be  covered  over  with  green  curtains  to  protect  them. 
When  the  Emperor  looked  at  them,  he  seemed  to  re- 
gret that  the  Empress  had  accepted  them.  He  used  to 
say  that  it  was  robbing  the  Museum.  He  would  have 
taken  more  pleasure  in  them  at  the  Museum,  because 
the  greatest  pleasure  that  he  could  afford  himself  was 
to  enrich  France  with  all  the  masterpieces  which  he 
gained  by  his  victories. 

Napoleon  gave  to  the  new  Kingdom  of  Westphalia 
a  constitution  the  provisions  of  which  are  an  answer 
to  the  reproach  that  has  been  cast  upon  him  of  being 
the  defender  of  privileges  and  the  restorer  of  absolute 
power.  This  constitution,  like  that  of  the  Grand-duchy 
of  Warsaw,  and  like  the  constitution  of  Bayonne, 
which  were  drawn  up  later,  consecrated  the  abolition 
of  serfdom,  the  equality  of  all  men  before  the  law, 
the  publicity  of  trials  and  the  eligibility  of  all  citizens 


NAPOLEON    I.  477 

without  distinction  to  fill  public  offices.  Already,  as 
First  Consul,  he  had  given  a  proof  of  his  vigilance  for 
the  rights  of  the  people,  by  causing  a  special  clause 
to  be  inserted  into  the  deed  by  which  Louisiana  was 
ceded  to  the  United  States,  guaranteeing  that  the  in- 
habitants of  this  colony  should  be  protected  in  their 
liberties,  their  possessions,  and  religion.  Napoleon 
sent  French  commissioners  to  the  new  Kingdom  of 
Westphalia,  charged  with  the  organization  of  the  vari- 
ous government  departments,  and  to  form  a  regency 
council  pending  the  king's  arrival.  The  marriage  of 
Jerome.  Napoleon's  brother,  with  the  daughter  of  the 
King  of  Wurtemberg,  was  the  consequence  of  the 
foundation  of  this  new  throne. 

The  interview  between  the  future  spouses  took  place 
at  the  castle  of  Raincy,  near  Paris.  Prince  Jerome, 
bright,  witty,  and  fond  of  pleasure,  was  not  yet 
twenty-three  years  of  age.  Princess  Catherine  was  one 
year  older.  This  union,  formed  by  cold  political  calcu- 
lations, was  soon  strengthened  by  the  mutual  affection 
which  sprung  up  between  husband  and  wife.  Cath- 
erine of  W'urtenberg,  whose  destiny  it  was  to  give  an 
example  of  conjugal  fidelity  and  constancy  under  adver- 
sity, during  a  period  when  so  many  reputations,  till 
then  considered  above  reproach,  went  to  the  wall,  was 
a  beautiful  and  interesting  princess.  From  the  first 
moment  she  won  the  sympathies  of  her  new  family, 
and  the  Emperor  embraced  her  affectionately  directly 
he  saw  her.  The  civil  marriage  was  performed  with 
great  pomp  in  the  Diana  gallery,  at  the  Tuileries 
Palace,  and  the  Prince-Primate  gave  the  nuptial  bless- 
ing to  the  young  couple  in  the  chapel  of  the  same 
palace  on  the  following  day.  There  was  a  reception  at 
court  that  day,  but  the  bad  weather  spoiletl  the  illum- 
inations and  prevented  the  firework  display. 

riie    King  and  Queen   of   Westphalia   spent   three 


478  MEMOIRS    OF 

months  in  Paris,  whilst  the  regency  council  composed 
of  the  three  councillors  of  State, — Simeon  Beugnot 
and  Jollivet  and  General  Lagrange — was  organizing 
the  government  of  the  kingdom  in  the  sovereign's 
name  and  establishing  his  authority.  Initiated  to  the 
science  of  government  by  the  Emperor,  King  Jerome 
had  frequent  conversations  with  his  brother,  and  was 
in  constant  correspondence  with  the  regency  council. 
A  week  after  the  departure  of  the  Emperor  for  Italy, 
the  King  and  Queen  of  Westphalia  left  Paris  to  enter 
upon  their  States.  They  were  received  all  along  their 
route  with  the  enthusiastic  welcome  w^hich  was  every- 
where accorded  to  the  name  which  they  bore.  They 
spent  a  week  at  Stuttgart,  where  the  King  of  Wurtem- 
berg  did  all  in  his  power  to  treat  his  daughter  and  her 
husband  with  respect  and  honour.  The  week  passed  in 
tmending  banquets  and  fetes.  What  a  change  seven 
years  later!  The  old  king  seemed  then  to  want  to 
make  up  for  the  marks  of  respect  which,  in  1807,  he 
had  shown,  through  his  guests,  to  the  generous  sover- 
eign to  whom  he  owed  his  royal  crown ;  but  Napoleon, 
in  18 14,  was  no  longer  anything  more  in  his  eyes  than 
a  vanquished  enemy,  whom  he  had  no  longer  any  need 
to  treat  with  consideration.  The  change  of  times  can 
alone  explain  such  changes  of  conduct  and  these  things 
are  amongst  the  contemptible  features  of  human 
nature. 

After  Napoleon's  return  from  Tilsitt,  an  important 
change  was  made  in  the  Ministry.  Prince  de  Benevent. 
who,  dissatisfied  with  the  post  of  Grand  Chamberlain, 
coveted  a  salary  equal  to  that  of  the  two  ex-consuls, 
was  given  the  choice  between  the  dignity  of  Vice- 
Grand  Elector  and  of  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
M.  de  Talleyrand  preferred  to  resign  his  portfolio, 
but  he  considered,  and  not  without  reason,  that  his 
leaving  the  Ministry  was  the  beginning  of  his  disgrace. 


NAPOLEON    I.  479 

The  Emperor,  without  having  material  proofs  of  his 
minister's  intidehty,  felt  that  he  could  not  continue  to 
trust  him.  Napoleon  accordingly  thought  that  it 
would  be  more  advisable  to  keep  Prince  de  Benevent 
at  hand,  and  only  to  take  advantage  of  his  services  as 
occasion  might  warrant.  M.  de  Champagny,  whom 
the  Emperor  had  employed  in  certain  negotiations, 
whose  honesty  he  appreciated,  and  who  seemed  to  him 
endowed  with  the  special  capacities  that  were  wanted, 
seemed  to  him  the  right  man  to  manage  the  Foreign 
Office,  under  his  own  direction.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  Napoleon  did  not  remove  Talleyrand  from  public 
affairs  altogether,  at  the  time  when  he  removed  the 
portfolio  of  the  Foreign  Office  from  his  hands;  for  the 
relations  which  this  minister  had  formed  with  certain 
foreign  statesmen,  and  the  way  in  which  he  had  man- 
aged to  ingratiate  himself  with  certain  sovereigns,  gave 
him  powerful  resources  of  influence  which  he  was  able 
to  use  in  a  fatal  manner  against  the  Emperor. 

M.  de  Champagny  gave  up  the  Ministry  of  the  In- 
terior to  M.  Cretet,  who  was  governor  of  the  Bank 
of  France  and  who  was  replaced  by  Jaubert,  the  coun- 
cillor of  State.  General  Clarke  replaced  Marshal 
Berthier  at  the  War  Office — the  Marshal  being  raised 
to  the  d'gnity  of  Vice- Constable,  whilst  retaining  his 
post  as  Major-general  of  the  Great  Army. 

M.  Portalis,  one  of  the  principal  writers  of  the  civil 
rode,  was  succeeded  after  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  this  same  month,  at  the  Ministry  of  Public  Worship, 
by  M.  Bigot  Preameneu.  a  learned  lawyer,  who  like 
his  predecessor,  had  worked  on  the  civil  code. 

The  Tribunate  was  suppressed  by  a  senatus  consul- 
tum  of  August,  1807.  This  institution  had  not  ful- 
filled its  object,  even  at  the  time  when  it  was  created. 
It  was  a  wheel  in  the  governmental  machine,  which 
experience  had  proved  to  be  useless  and  even  disad- 


48o  MEMOIRS    OF 

vantageous.  The  Tribunate  was  composed,  for  the 
most  part,  of  very  capable  men,  whom  a  new  govern- 
ment could  not  ignore.  The  danger  lay  in  the  fact  that 
these  men,  loving  to  shine  by  eloquence,  and  being 
steeped  in  the  ideas  v/hich  they  had  advocated  during 
the  Republic,  possessed  a  public  tribune  from  which 
to  preach  and  maintain  the  same  doctrines.  These  men 
brought  into  their  debates,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
nine-tenths  of  them  could  not  be  suspected  of  ill-will 
or  of  hostility  against  the  authorities,  a  spirit  of  op- 
position and  an  instinct  of  distrust,  which  prompted 
them  to  reject  measures  of  generally  acknowledged 
public  utility — amongst  others  the  so  anxiously  ex- 
pected provisions  of  the  civil  code.  The  modifications 
which  the  Tribune  had  undergone,  a  creation  incom- 
patible with  the  idea  of  stability,  did  not  remedy  the 
fatal  objection  to  the  institution  as  an  institution.  Its 
suppression  was  necessary,  and  incontestably  simplified 
the  elaboration  and  making  of  laws.  The  nation, 
tired  of  chatterings  and  Utopian  ideas,  had  one  wish 
alone — to  rest  from  its  agitations  in  the  institutions 
which  it  expected  from  the  man  in  whom  its  trust  had 
been  placed.  It  saw  with  displeasure  the  opposition 
which  was  raised  against  him,  and  applauded  this 
change  in  the  constitution.  Speculative  minds  have 
asserted  that  Napoleon  only  suppressed  the  Tribunate, 
because  he  wished  to  rid  himself  of  an  inconvenient 
censor,  and  because  he  hated  any  publicity  of  discus- 
sion. Others,  more  impartial,  have  found  that,  on  the 
contrary,  by  this  measure  the  Legislative  Body  was 
restored  to  the  full  exercise  of  its  powers,  and  that  the 
new  method  of  discussion  which  was  adopted  guaran- 
teed better  legislation,  by  doing  away  with  those  parlia- 
mentary quarrels  which  kept  alive  an  agitation  which 
was  fatal  to  the  steady  progress  of  the  government. 
The  examination  of  the  projected  laws  was  as  a  matter 


NAPOLEON    I.  481 

of  fact  delegated  to  committees  chosen  from  the  Legis- 
lative Body,  and  including  its  most  experienced  mem- 
bers. The  Council  of  State  drew  up  the  draft  bills  and 
discussed  them  with  the  committees.  In  case  of  dis- 
agreement the  sections  of  the  Council  of  State,  and 
the  committees  of  the  Legislatire  Body  used  to  meet 
under  the  presidence  of  the  Archchancellor  or  of  the 
Archtreasurer.  to  come  to  an  understanding.  The 
Speaker  for  the  Council  of  State  expounded  the  rea- 
sons of  the  law  to  the  Legislative  Body.  The  president 
of  the  Parliamentary  committee  was  next  heard.  When 
the  matter  had  been  sufficiently  discussed  a  vote  was 
taken.  If  the  committee  of  the  Legislature  did  not 
consider  the  proposed  law  acceptable,  each  of  the 
members  of  the  committee  was  free  to  explain  his  ob- 
jections before  the  Chamber.  The  Legislature  was 
accordingly  vested  with  the  necessary  authority,  and 
independence,  and  the  examination  of  the  bills  re- 
mained entrusted  to  the  pick  of  its  members. 

An  act  which  is  worthy  of  mention  is  the  reorgan- 
ization of  the  Audit  Office.  This  important  measure, 
which  followed  closely  upon  the  suppression  of  the 
Tribunate,  has  been  praised  as  an  act  of  wise  govern- 
ment, the  budget  committee  having  been  admitted  to 
be  insufficient.  But  even  the  best  things  are  open  to 
criticism,  and  fault  has  been  found  with  the  fact  that 
the  annual  balance-sheet  submitted  to  the  Sovereign 
was  not  made  public,  and  that  only  the  budgets  of 
communes  possessing  an  income  of  over  ten  thousand 
francs  a  year  were  audited.  The  first  point  was  recti- 
fied by  a  subsequent  order,  by  the  terms  of  which  the 
report  of  the  Audit  Office  had  to  be  annexed  to  the 
accounts  laid  before  the  Legislature  each  year.  It  was 
in  the  government's  interest  to  develop  this  system 
of  public  book-keeping  as  much  as  possible,  and  the  rea- 
sons for  finding  fault  with  the  institution  of  the  Audit 


482  MEMOIRS    OF 

Office  were  bound  to  disappear.  Experience,  and  the 
restoration  of  peace,  would  have  brought  with  them 
reforms  in  turn,  as  well  as  the  improvement  of  many 
other  services,  for  which  time  was  lacking.  As  Napo- 
leon himself  used  often  to  say :  "  Time  is  the  great 
master  of  all  things." 

M.  Barbe-Marbois,  from  whom  the  Emperor  had 
been  forced  to  withdraw  the  portfolio  of  the  Public 
Treasury,  in  1806,  received  by  his  nomination  to  the 
presidency  of  the  Audit  Office,  a  fresh  proof  of  Napo- 
leon's appreciation  of  his  past  services,  very  different 
conduct  from  that  of  people  who,  in  the  day  of  adver- 
sity, have  forgotten  the  injuries  they  committed  against 
the  man  who  had  put  a  stop  to  their  exile  or  their  pro- 
scription, only  to  remember  the  disgrace,  too  often 
fully  merited,  which  had  befallen  them  later. 

One  of  the  principal  reasons  which  had  induced 
Napoleon  to  sign  the  peace  of  Tilsitt  was  the  necessity 
of  securing  fresh  means  for  excluding  England  from 
the  Continent.  With  this  object  in  view  he  exerted 
all  the  forces  of  his  intelligence,  and  began  by  weighing 
with  all  his  influence  on  Spain  to  obtain  from  this 
degenerate  power  an  increase  of  effort  against  the 
common  enemy.  He  exacted  in  consequence  the  co- 
operation of  the  Spanish  Government  in  forcing  Portu- 
gal to  accept  and  carry  out  the  continental  system. 
The  Emperor  on  his  side  had  summoned  the  Lisbon 
Cabinet  to  close  the  ports  of  Portugal  against  the 
English,  to  seize  upon  English  subjects  and  merchan- 
dise, and  to  declare  war  against  England.  The  Portu- 
guese Government  had  not  heeded  these  behests.  A 
secret  understanding,  which  the  English  Government 
did  not  conceal  in  Parliament,  existed  between  Eng- 
land and  Portugal,  and  tended  to  the  evasion  by  the 
latter  of  the  decrees  of  Berlin.  Napoleon  decided  in 
consequence  to  fight  this  country.     He  assembled  an 


NAPOLEON    I.  483 

army  of  twenty-five  thousand  French  soldiers,  under 
the  command  of  General  Junto  near  Bayonne,  and 
ordered  them  to  invade  Portugal.  The  Emperor  oc- 
cupied himself  in  conjunction  with  the  Minister  of 
Marine  (Decres).  in  preparing  small  maritime  expe- 
ditions, with  the  object  of  ruining  British  trade  and 
shipping  in  the  waters  of  the  island  of  France,  of  the 
Antilles,  and  on  the  coasts  of  Africa.  He  applied  his 
indefatigable  activity  to  increasing  the  number  of 
naval  constructions,  to  the  creation  of  new  maritime 
establishments,  and,  in  one  word,  to  every  development 
of  the  resources  of  the  French  navy.  His  attention 
was  at  the  same  time  directed  to  the  best  means  for 
providing  for  the  needs  of  the  Treasury  by  admitting 
the  finances  of  the  State  to  share  in  the  profits  of  the 
war  indemnities.  This  same  zeal  for  the  public  good 
extended  itself  likewise  to  public  works,  to  the  pro- 
tection required  by  commerce  and  industry,  to  the  re- 
form of  the  magistracy,  to  the  improvement  of  the 
positions  of  parish  priests,  to  the  advancement  of 
science,  art,  and  literature.  The  feast  of  Saint  Napo- 
leon was  celebrated  with  general  enthusiasm.  The 
peace  of  Tilsitt,  and  the  hope  that  it  would  be  followed 
by  peace  at  sea,  opened  every  heart  to  confidence.  On 
the  morrow,  August  i6th.  Napoleon  opened  the  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislative  Body  with  pomp,  which  was 
further  increased  by  the  presence  of  an  immense  con- 
course of  people.  In  a  speech,  delivered  in  a  firm  and 
sonorous  voice,  which  thrilled  the  Assembly,  Napoleon 
related  what  he  had  done  for  the  greatness  and  happi- 
ness of  France,  and  described  the  plans  which  he  was 
meditating  for  the  perfecting  of  our  institutions. 
This  solemn  session  was  terminated  by  a  statement 
of  the  magnificent  situation  of  the  French  Empire. 

1  he  senatus  consultum,   announced   one  year  pre- 
viously, which  created  hereditary  nobility,  is-.sued  from 
C — Memoira  Vol.  7 


484  MEMOIRS    OF 

this  general  state  of  prosperity.  The  creation  of 
hereditary  titles  was  the  natural  sequence  of  the  foun- 
dation of  the  Empire,  and  the  creation  of  the  princi- 
palities which  had  been  conferred  in  1806.  On  March 
1st,  1807,  there  had  been  registered  at  the  Senate  two 
statutes,  one  providing  for  the  creation  of  titles  of 
princes,  dukes,  counts,  barons,  and  knights;  the  other 
establishing  the  regulation  of  the  institution  and  com- 
position of  settled  estates.  The  nobility  founded  by 
Napoleon  was  no  more  in  opposition  to  the  principles 
of  equality  than  the  institution  of  the  Legion  of 
Honour.  That  is  what  distinguished  it  from  the  old 
nobility,  which  had  been  a  privileged  and  feudal  aris- 
tocracy. The  new  nobility  was  injured  by  what  was 
remembered  of  the  old.  The  imperial  nobility  would 
have  needed,  before  being  judged,  to  have  undergone 
the  developments  which  time  would  have  brought  with 
it.  It  was  the  fruit  of  an  idea  of  organization,  which, 
as  Napoleon  used  to  say,  would  have  characterized  the 
century.  The  old  aristocracy  formed  an  association 
outside  the  people  which,  separated  from  it  by  almost 
insurmountable  barriers,  was  naturally  hostile  towards 
it.  In  creating  a  new  nobility,  open  to  merit  of  every 
kind.  Napoleon  counterpoised  our  old  close  aristocracy 
and  prepared  its  transformation.  In  the  Emperor's 
mind  the  imperial  nobility  restored  the  equality  which 
had  been  proscribed  by  the  old  nobility.  Napoleon 
wished  to  realize  three  important  objects:  The  amal- 
gamation of  old  France  with  the  new  France;  the 
reconcihation  of  France  with  Europe;  and  the  efface- 
ment  in  Europe  of  the  vestiges  of  feudality,  by  at- 
taching the  idea  of  nobility  to  services  rendered  to  the 
State.  The  superiority  which  the  old  nobility  arro- 
gated to  itself  would  have  been  effaced  by  its  fusion 
with  the  new.  The  Princess  de  Beauvau,  whose  merits 
and  attachment  the  Emperor  highly  esteemed,  hearing 


NAPOLEON    I.  485 

that  her  eldest  son  had  been  created  a  baron,  could 
only  bring  herself  by  force  to  recognize  a  favour  in 
this  gift  of  a  title.  She  ignored  that  her  son  would 
have  recovered,  in  time,  the  title  to  which  he  had  a 
right.  The  members  of  the  ancient  nobility,  bearing 
names  recommended  by  ancient  services,  or  remark- 
ably illustrious,  would  have  resumed  the  titles  they  had 
formerly  borne,  after  the  peace  and  under  conditions 
which  would  have  made  of  the  two  nobilities,  one 
historical  nobility. 

The  Emperor  had  distributed,  on  June  30th  and 
September  23rd,  sums  of  from  two  hundred  thousand 
to  one  million  francs  to  each  of  nine  marshals,  sums  of 
one  hundred  thousand  francs  to  each  of  thirty-four 
generals — in  one  word,  revenues  exceeding  a  total  of 
fifteen  hundred  thousand  francs.  These  cash  sums 
did  not  cost  tlie  treasury  one  halfpenny,  for  they  were 
taken  from  the  war  indemnities  levied  on  the  enemy, 
and  paid  into  a  special  army  treasury.  The  endow- 
ments consisted  in  domains  which  Napoleon  had 
reserved  to  himself  in  Poland,  Hanover,  Westphalia, 
Holland,  and  Italy.  The  Archchancellor  and  the  Arch- 
treasurer,  several  ministers  and  other  civil  function- 
aries, had  a  share,  in  a  given  proportion,  in  these 
liberalities.  I  am  only  speaking  of  those  who  had  a 
first  share  in  these  gifts,  before  and  after  the  Em- 
peror's fete.  For,  in  proportion  as  victory  put  these 
riches  into  Napoleon's  hands,  new  sums  of  money  and 
new  endowments  were  used  as  rewards  for  old  and 
new  services,  both  military  and  civil.  Nor  were  the 
foreigners  who  had  assisted  in  our  victories  forgotten. 
The  total  resources  supplied  by  conquest  composed  the 
extraordinary  domain,  and  this  domain  was  exclu- 
sively used  for  rewarding  services  rendered  to  hVance, 
and  Napoleon  always  abstained  from  applying  any 
part  of  it  to  his  personal  use. 


486  MEMOIRS    OF 

The  Emperor  always  wanted  me  to  get  married. 
He  was  constantly  speaking  to  me  on  this  subject.  He 
was  constantly  saying :  "  Well,  when  are  we  going  to 
get  married  ?  "  I  had  had  time  to  think  the  matter 
over.  But  I  was  so  jealous  of  my  independence  that 
I  did  not  want  the  Emperor  or  the  Empress  to  inter- 
fere in  my  marriage.  It  was  only  later  that  I  deter- 
mined to  face  this  great  problem,  which  was  solved  to 
my  entire  satisfaction.  I  selected  my  wife  from  an 
(honourable  family  and  in  making  my  choice  was  not 
influenced  by  anybody  else.  I  did  not  regret  what  I 
had  done,  for  the  future  which  opened  before  us  was 
sufficiently  bright  to  satisfy  all  our  ambitions.  The 
Emperor,  when  freedom  from  worry  gave  the  reins  to 
his  benevolence,  had  more  than  once  said  to  me :  "  You 
have  had  the  fortune  to  rise  with  me;  I  must  make 
your  fortune.  Peace  will  at  last  come  to  enable  me 
to  settle  my  accounts.  You  will  lose  nothing  by  wait- 
ing." I  quote  these  words,  which  penetrated  into  my 
heart  too  deeply  for  me  to  forget  them.  He  put  that 
and  other  matters  off  till  the  period  which  he  so 
earnestly  hoped  for.  After  his  second  abdication,  in 
1815,  the  Emperor  expressed  his  regret  to  me  at  not 
having  been  able  to  keep  his  promises. 

Napoleon  spent  the  last  days  of  September,  the 
whole  of  October,  and  half  the  month  of  November  at 
Fontainebleau.  He  had  given  orders,  two  years  pre- 
viously, for  great  improvements  in  this  sumptuous 
residence,  and  he  had  considerably  added  to  the  splen- 
did furniture  of  the  palace.  He  received  many 
foreigners  and  German  princes  there.  Diplomatic 
introductions  took  place  here,  and  the  Court  at  Fon- 
tainebleau was  a  very  brilliant  one.  Hunting,  theatrical 
performances  of  the  masterpieces  of  the  French  stage, 
in  which  Talma  and  our  principal  actors  took  part, 


NAPOLEON    I.  487 

were  a  diversion  from  the  serious  business  with  which 
the  Emperor  was  taken  up. 

England's  answer  to  the  proposals  of  France  and 
Russia,  and  to  Russia's  offer  of  acting  as  mediator, 
had  been  the  bombardment  of  Copenhagen.  Portugal, 
who  was  bound  to  England  by  her  sympathies  and 
interests,  had  evaded  all  co-operation  in  the  efficacious 
measures  adopted  by  the  naval  powers  against  the 
excesses  of  English  tyranny.  The  Lisbon  Cabinet, 
enslaved  by  the  London  Cabinet,  maintained  an  atti- 
tude of  hidden  hostility  in  face  of  our  claims.  The 
Emperor  decided  to  punish  this  perfidy  and  to  strike  a 
new  blow  against  England  by  occupying  Portugal.  A 
convention  was  signed  on  October  27th,  at  Fontaine- 
bleau,  between  General  Duroc  and  M.  Izquierdo,  a 
Spanish  gentleman  who  was  engaged  in  the  study 
of  natural  history  in  Paris,  and  who  was  the  devoted 
agent  of  the  Prince  de  la  Paix.  The  object  of  this 
convention  was  to  settle  the  basis  of  the  occupation  of 
Portugal  by  an  army  of  twenty-five  thousand  men,  to 
which  was  to  be  joined  a  Spanish  army  of  the  same 
force.  General  Junot,  commanding  the  observation 
corps  which  was  assembled  at  Bayonne,  received 
orders  to  cross  the  frontier,  and  to  march  upon  Lisbon 
by  the  military  route  agreed  upon  with  the  Spanish 
Government.  The  Emperor,  at  the  same  time  gave 
orders  for  the  formation  of  a  second  army,  and  en- 
trusted its  command  to  General  Dupont.  whose 
military  talents  he  had  had  reason  to  appreciate  during 
the  1805  campaign.  This  second  army  had  the  same 
destination  as  the  first,  and  was  to  enter  Spain  to  assist 
it,  in  case  the  English  joined  the  Portuguese. 

The  same  plenipotentiaries  signed  a  treaty  which 
divided  Portugal  into  three  parts,  the  first  of  which 
was  given  to  the  King  of  Etruria  in  exchange  for 
Tuscany.     The  second  was  to  form  a  principality  in 


488  MEMOIRS    OF 

favour  of  the  Prince  de  la  Paix,  who  was  pleased  at 
the  prospect  of  having  an  assured  independence  in 
case  events  forced  him  to  cease  his  rule  in  Spain.  As 
to  the  third  part,  it  was  kept  in  reserve  for  the  pur- 
poses of  future  exchange,  or  to  be  bestowed  in  way  of 
recompense.  The  reversion  of  these  territories  was 
reserved,  in  default  of  legitimate  heirs,  to  the  King  of 
Spain,  whom  the  Emperor  undertook  to  have  acknowl- 
edged as  the  Emperor  of  the  Two  Americas,  as  soon 
as  the  general  peace  should  have  been  effected. 

Two  days  later  a  treaty  was  signed  with  the  envoy 
from  Denmark,  also  at  Fontainebleau.  The  Crown 
Prince  of  Denmark,  profoundly  incensed  by  the  odious 
conduct  of  the  English  Ministry,  and  by  the  barbarous 
aggression  of  which  his  people  had  been  the  victims, 
had  rejected  all  the  proposals  of  England,  answering 
them  with  a  declaration  of  war,  after  having  de- 
nounced the  Copenhagen  outrage  to  the  whole  of 
Europe.  This  prince  had  taken  just  reprisals  by  arrest- 
ing all  English  subjects,  by  confiscating  their  property, 
by  ordering  all  money  due  to  them  to  be  sequestrated, 
and  by  forbidding  all  communication  with  England 
under  pain  of  death.  He  made  common  cause  with 
France,  on  whose  support  he  could  rely,  and  with 
Russia,  whose  alliance  offered  less  guarantee  of 
sincerity.  Napoleon  took  into  his  service  the  Danish 
sailors  who  had  been  thrown  out  of  work  by  the 
capture  or  destruction  of  the  ships  on  which  they  had 
been  engaged. 

It  was  during  the  last  fortnight  of  his  stay  at  Fon- 
tainebleau that  the  Emperor  received  a  letter  dated 
from  the  Escurial — October  29th,  1807,  in  which  King 
Charles  IV.  informed  him  of  the  discovery  of  a  con- 
spiracy against  his  throne  and  the  Queen's  life, — a 
conspiracy  at  the  head  of  which  was  the  Prince  of 
the  Asturias,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Spanish  monarch. 


NAPOLEON    I.  489 

The  Emperor,  without  placing  faith  in  this  serious 
accusation,  saw  in  the  circumstance  another  proof  of 
the  deep  misunderstanding  which  separated  the  sov- 
ereigns' favourite  and  the  heir  to  the  Spanish  crown. 
On  the  other  hand.  Napoleon  had  received  a  letter, 
transmitted  by  M.  de  Beauharnais.  our  ambassador  in 
Madrid,  some  days  before  the  King  of  Spain's  letter. 
This  letter  came  from  the  Prince  of  tlie  Asturias,  who 
wrote  to  the  Emperor,  without  his  father's  knowledge, 
to  implore  his  protection  against  the  enemies  who  had 
decided  upon  his  ruin,  and  to  ask  him  for  the  hand  of 
one  of  the  princesses  of  his  family.  These  letters 
brought  back  before  Napoleon's  mind  the  thoughts 
concerning  Spain  which  he  had  long  been  meditating. 
He  had  long  and  frequent  conversations  on  this  sub- 
ject with  the  Prince  de  Bcnevent.  who.  seeking  to 
penetrate  the  Emperor's  secret  thoughts,  had  skilfully 
seized  upon  this  opportunity  of  rendering  himself 
useful.  Talleyrand,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  did  obtain 
the  favour  of  being  allowed  to  replace  Prince  Eugene 
as  Archchancellor  of  State,  during  his  absence.  This 
title  conferrevl  upon  Prince  Eugene  a  dignity  without 
diplomatic  functions.  M.  de  Talleyrand  expected  to 
derive  more  serious  advantages  from  his  honorary 
title.  In  the  course  of  confidential  conversations  with 
Napoleon,  conversations  in  which  he  chiefly  played 
the  part  of  listener,  he  hinted  the  advice,  with  all  the 
semblances  of  a  studied  reserve,  that  the  Emperor 
should  take  advantage  of  the  misunderstandings  which 
divided  the  Court  of  Spain,  to  change  the  dynasty 
which  would  never  be  a  useful  ally  against  England, 
and  which,  under  circumstances  which  could  not  fail 
to  arise,  would  on  the  contrary  favour  this  power  to 
our  disadvantage.  As  an  alternative  to  this  extreme 
measure,  he  ])roposed  that  a  surrender  of  territory 
should  be  obtained  from  Spain,  to  the  extent  of  mak- 


490  MEMOIRS    OF 

ing  her  dependent  upon  us.  I  was  present  at  several 
of  these  conversations,  which  used  frequently  to  be 
held  in  the  Emperor's  work-room.  Napoleon  took  his 
time  to  reflect  on  this  serious  matter,  before  being  able 
to  come  to  any  decision  himself.  Events  had  to  be 
allowed  to  ripen  with  time.  He  did  not  answer  the 
letter  of  the  Prince  of  the  Asturias,  considering  it  as 
an  attack  on  the  authority  of  the  head  of  the  royal 
family.  He  had  a  declaration  made  to  Prince  de 
Masserano,  at  that  time  Spanish  ambassador  to  France, 
that  it  did  not  suit  him  to  interfere  in  the  domestic 
affairs  of  the  Spanish  sovereign.  He  answered  King 
Charles,  advising  him  to  exercise  indulgence  and 
moderation,  and  made  his  preparations  for  his  journey 
to  Italy,  without  having  expressed  himself  in  any 
pronounced  way,  and  leaving  the  whole  matter  in 
suspense.  During  his  stay  at  Fontainebleau,  the 
Emperor  had  granted  an  audience  to  Madame  de 
Bonchamp,  the  widow  of  the  Vendeen  general  of  that 
name,  who,  dragged  into  the  revolutionary  war  by  a 
feeling  of  honour,  used  to  say  that  he  aimed  after  no 
human  glory,  because  civil  wars  can  never  confer  it. 
His  generous  conduct  won  him  the  esteem  of  men  of 
all  parties.  With  his  dying  breath  he  had  saved  the 
lives  of  six  thousand  patriots,  whose  death  was  being 
clamoured  for  by  the  Vendeens.  Napoleon,  anxious 
to  honour  the  memory  of  this  distinguished  warrior, 
received  his  widow  with  kindness,  and  promised  to 
endow  her  daughter,  a  child  of  twelve  or  thirteen, 
whom  she  presented  to  him.  He  had  rather  a  long 
conversation  with  Madame  de  Bonchamp,  and  heard 
with  interest  that  she  herself  had  been  saved  from  a 
death-sentence  by  a  convcntionncl,  a  man  called  Lof- 
ficial,  whose  name  Napoleon  heard  then  for  the  first 
time.  Lofificial,  after  having  the  sentence  which  con- 
demned Madame  de  Bonchamp  as  the  widow  of  a 


NAPOLEON    I.  491 

Vendeen  general  to  death,  respited,  had  obtained  an 
amnesty  in  which  her  name  was  inckided  by  his  care. 
Napoleon  did  not  limit  his  interest  towards  Madame 
de  Bonchamp  to  sterile  expressions  of  favour,  and 
granted  her  a  pension  of  six  thousand  francs. 

Towards  the  same  period,  the  Emperor  had  ap- 
pointed General  Ordener  to  the  post  of  first  equerry  to 
the  Empress.  He  was  a  loyal  soldier,  and  an  honour- 
able man,  but  was  little  accustomed  to  the  ways  of  the 
court.  This  post  was  equivalent  to  that  of  knight  of 
honour,  which  at  that  time  did  not  exist.  Napoleon 
had  noticed  that  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  attendance 
on  the  Empress  put  on  somewhat  forced  airs  of  aris- 
tocracy. He  had  been  informed  that  on  a  reception 
day,  when  several  persons  belonging  to  the  noble  fau- 
bourg had  been  presented  to  the  Empress,  her  lady-in- 
waiting  had  said:  "  We  have  received  good  company 
to-day."  In  appointing  General  Ordener,  the  Emperor 
wished  to  reward  and  honour  the  services  of  a  brave 
ofiicer,  and  at  the  same  time  to  give  tlie  Empress's 
household  a  lesson.  He  allowed  their  vexation  at  his 
choice  to  play  itself  out  in  certain  sarcastic  remarks 
without  appearing  to  notice  them. 

When  the  marriage  of  Napoleon  to  the  Arch- 
duchess Marie  Louise  v/as  decided  upon,  General 
Ordener  was  replaced  as  first  equerry  by  Prince 
Aldobrandi  Borghese.  The  General  was  given  the 
governorship  of  the  palace  of  Compiegne  for  his 
retired  service.  Count  Claude  Beauharnais,  father  of 
the  Grand-duchess  of  Baden,  became  knight  of  honour 
to  the  new  empress. 

On  November  15th,  the  Emperor  left  Fontaineblcau 
for  a  tour  in  Italy.  A  fully  justified  distrust  of 
Austria's  political  feelings  towards  him,  a  desire  to 
visit  the  Venetians  and  other  inhabitants  of  Italy,  and 
to  bind  them  more  closely  to  his  political  system,  and 


492  MEMOIRS    OF 

to  confer  with  his  brothers  Joseph  and  Lucien — such 
were  the  chief  reasons  of  his  journey.  Whilst  crossing 
Mount  Cenis,  Napoleon  was  overtaken,  when  on  foot, 
by  a  storm  which  put  his  life  in  danger.  He  was  for- 
tunate enough  to  reach  a  cave  in  which  he  took  refuge. 
This  cave  appeared  to  him,  as  he  afterwards  related, 
"  a  palace  of  diamonds." 

Brilliant  fetes  were  held  in  Milan  and  in  Venice  in 
honour  of  the  Emperor,  and  the  Court  of  Bavaria 
was  present.  During  his  stay  in  Milan  the  Emperor 
created  Prince  Eugene  Prince  of  Venice,  and  conferred 
upon  him  the  succession  to  the  throne  of  Italy  in  de- 
fault of  male  issue  to  himself.  He  informed  himself 
on  the  exact  signification  of  the  title  of  heir-presump- 
tive, and  himself  looked  up  the  exact  meaning  of  this 
word  in  the  Academy  Dictionary.  The  eldest  daughter 
of  Prince  Eugene  was  created  Princess  of  Bologna, 
with  a  rich  endowment.  During  the  sitting  of  the  three 
corporations,  the  Possidenti,  the  Dotti,  and  the  Com- 
mercianti,  at  which  the  adoption  of  Prince  Eugene  was 
declared,  Napoleon  was  seen  to  inform  the  Viceroy 
that  the  applause  that  burst  forth  on  this  occasion  was 
addressed  to  him,  telling  him  to  acknowledge  it  with  a 
bow.  Melzi  d'Eril,  chancellor  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Italy,  was  created  Duke  of  Lodi,  and  richly  endowed. 
During  Napoleon's  journey  at  this  time,  the  Queen  of 
Etruria  came  to  Milan  to  present  her  son,  whose 
guardian  she  was,  to  the  Emperor.  She  left  Tuscany, 
which  had  just  been  united  to  the  Empire,  after  the 
death  of  the  king  her  husband. 

New  edicts  from  the  British  Government  having 
given  an  indefinite  extension  to  the  maritime  blockade, 
and  having  subjected  all  ships  belonging  to  neutral 
powers  to  the  obligation  to  put  into  port  in  England 
and  to  pay  duty  on  their  cargoes  under  pain  of  con- 
fiscation, the  Emperor  retorted  on  this  piratical  legis- 


NAPOLEON    I.  493 

lation  with  a  decree  issued  at  Milan,  which  declared 
that  any  ship  whicii  allowed  herself  to  be  visited  by  an 
English  vessel,  or  which  should  submit  to  a  voyage  to 
England,  or  paid  any  duty  whatever  to  the  English 
should  be  considered  denationalized.  After  a  short 
stay  at  Milan,  Napoleon  went  to  visit  Venice.  The 
population  received  him  with  enthusiasm,  and  splendid 
fetes  were  given  in  his  honour,  in  which  regattas  and 
gondola  races  naturally  played  the  principal  part.  The 
grand  canal  was  covered  with  boats  decorated  with 
the  greatest  taste,  transformed  into  constructions  rep- 
resenting the  houses,  temples,  kiosks,  and  cottages  of 
different  countries,  and  manned  with  gondoliers 
dressed  in  appropriate  costumes.  There  was  not  a 
Venetian  noble  who  did  not  spend  at  least  a  year's 
income  on  these  fetes. 

Joseph,  King  of  Naples,  came  to  see  the  Emperor 
at  Venice,  and  spent  six  days  with  him.  He  accom- 
panied Napoleon  when  he  went  to  visit  the  port,  the 
batteries,  and  the  various  defence  works.  The  Em- 
peror, in  the  midst  of  these  fetes,  occupied  himself 
actively  with  the  various  improvements  which  could 
be  introduced  into  different  parts  of  the  government, 
and  with  the  best  means  for  raising  up  the  Venetians 
again  to  the  state  of  prosperity  which  they  had  for- 
merly enjoyed.  In  consequence  he  increased  or 
improved  the  civil,  military,  and  maritime  establish- 
ments of  the  ancient  city  of  the  doges. 

Napoleon  left  Venice  to  visit  the  fortified  places  of 
the  old  Venetian  State,  and  stopped  at  Mantua.  King 
Joseph,  who  had  taken  leave  of  the  Emperor,  on  his 
way  back  to  his  States,  received  a  letter  from  his 
brother  Lucien,  to  inform  him  of  his  presence  in 
Modena.  Two  days  later,  when  the  Emperor  was  at 
Mantua,  I  received  the  two  following  letters: — 


494  MEMOIRS    OF 

"  Monsieur  Meneval, — In  the  annexed  letter  I 
inform  the  Emperor  of  Lucien's  arrival.  Be  good 
enough  to  give  this  letter  with  your  own  hands  to  the 
Emperor,  and  to  ask  him  to  authorize  you  to  inform 
Lucien  when  he  can  receive  him. 

"  Your  well-disposed, 

"  (Signed)  Joseph." 

"Mantua,  December  nth,  1807." 

This  letter  contained  another  letter,  couched  in  the 
following  terms : — 

"  I  beg  you.  Sir,  to  hand  the  enclosed  to  His 
Majesty.  I  am  staying  at  the  big  inn  under  the  name 
of  secretary  to  the  King  of  Naples.  I  beg  His 
Majesty  the  Emperor  to  allow  you  to  come  and  fetch 
me.  The  particular  feelings  of  esteem  which  I  have 
for  you  will  make  your  selection  for  this  purpose  a 
pleasure  to  me. 

"Your  well-disposed, 
"  (Signed)   Lucien  Bonaparte." 

"  Mantua,  December  13th,  1807." 

After  having  taken  the  Emperor's  orders  I  went  to 
fetch  Lucien  Bonaparte  at  his  inn,  towards  nine  in  the 
evening.  I  brought  him  into  Napoleon's  cabinet, 
bringing  him  through  a  secret  entry,  as  he  had  said 
that  he  did  not  wish  to  be  seen  by  anybody.  The 
interview  between  the  two  brothers  lasted  till  mid- 
night. On  leaving  the  Emperor,  Lucien  was  deeply 
affected,  and  his  face  was  streaming  with  tears.  I 
conducted  him  back  to  his  inn,  and  there  I  heard  that 
the  Emperor  had  pressed  him  most  strongly  to  return 
to  France,  or  to  accept  a  foreign  throne,  but  that  the 
conditions  which  he  imposed  wounded  him  in  his 
domestic   afifections   and  political   independence.      He 


NAPOLEON    I.  495 

bade  me  carry  his  farewell  to  the  Emperor.  "  It  may 
be  for  ever,"  he  added.  Napoleon,  finding  it  impos- 
sible to  shake  his  brother's  resolution,  had  given  him, 
nevertheless,  full  time  to  consider  his  proposals.  He 
charged  his  brothers  and  his  ministers,  Talleyrand  and 
Fouche,  to  renew  his  remonstrances  to  Lucien,  but 
was  unable  to  effect  any  result.  Napoleon  regretted 
to  be  deprived  of  the  co-operation  of  a  man  for  w^hose 
character  and  rare  talents  he  had  the  highest  respect, 
but  he  was  unwilling  to  yield  an  inch  in  the  matter  of 
what  he  demanded  of  him.  The  promptness  with 
which  Lucien  rushed  to  his  brother's  side  w^hen  mis- 
fortunes came  upon  Napoleon,  prompted  only  by  his 
brotherly  love,  is  his  best  eulogy. 

It  had  been  agreed,  during  this  interview  between 
Napoleon  and  his  brother,  that  Lucien  should  send  his 
daughter  Charlotte,  who  was  thirteen  or  fourteen  years 
old,  to  Paris.  She  was  the  elder  of  the  two  daughters 
which  Lucien  had  by  Catherine  Boyer,  his  first  wife. 
It  was  proposed  that  this  child  should  become  the  wife 
of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Spain,  in  the  event  of  Napo- 
leon's deciding  to  grant  the  request  which  Ferdinand 
himself  had  proffered  in  this  connection.  Lucien's 
daughter  was  placed  in  the  house  of  the  Lady  Mother, 
who  treated  her  with  kindness,  but  whose  tastes  were 
not  sufficiently  in  sympathy  with  those  of  the  young 
girl  to  captivate  her  entirely.  Educated  by  a  step- 
mother who  had  disposed  her  in  no  friendly  manner 
towards  her  father's  family,  Lucien's  daughter  did  not 
respond  to  her  grandmother's  affections,  her  letters  to 
her  parents  were  full  of  bitter  complaints  about  her 
grandmother's  avarice,  and  of  sarcastic  remarks 
against  her  uncles  and  aunts.  These  letters  were 
handed  to  the  Emperor,  who  anuised  himself  with 
reading  them  one  Sunday  in  presence  of  his  family, 
assembled  after  a  family  dinner  in  the  drawing-room 


496  MEMOIRS    OF 

at  St.  Cloud.  Each  member  of  the  family  had  been 
made  the  target  of  a  more  or  less  well-directed  satire. 
After  Napoleon  had  amused  himself  for  a  moment 
with  the  sight  of  the  vexation  caused  by  the  jests  of 
the  imprudent  young  girl  on  those  present,  he  assumed 
a  graver  air,  complained  about  his  niece's  ingratitude, 
and  decided  that  she  should  be  immediately  sent  back 
to  her  parents.  On  the  morrow  he  sent  her  away  from 
Paris  under  the  care  of  a  person  in  whom  he  had 
confidence,  who  escorted  her  back  to  Italy  and  placed 
her  in  her  father's  hands.  Thus  Napoleon's  plan  of 
marrying  this  daughter  of  his  brother  Lucien  to  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Spain,  fell  to  the  ground  and  was 
abandoned. 

The  Emperor  returned  from  Mantua  to  Milan  and 
spent  a  week  there  before  returning  to  Paris.  Whilst 
passing  through  Alexandria  he  visited  the  immense 
fortification  works  which  he  had  ordered,  and  which 
had  transformed  this  town  into  the  strongest  fortified 
place  in  Europe.  The  Austrian  and  Sardinian  Gov- 
ernments destroyed  these  fortifications  after  the  fall 
of  the  Empire,  and  no  trace  of  them  remains  at  the 
time  at  which  I  am  writing. 

The  Emperor  was  back  in  Paris  from  his  tour  in 
Italy  on  January  ist,  1808.  During  his  stay  in  that 
country,  and  before  his  journey  to  Bayonne,  there 
was  published  the  result  of  the  assembly  of  Israelites 
which  preceded  and  followed  the  convocation  of  the 
great  Sanhedrin.  At  the  time  of  the  1805  campaign, 
Napoleon  had  been  struck  by  the  invasions  of  the 
Jewish  race.  He  had  given  attention  to  the  best  means 
of  remedying  the  damage  caused  in  certain  provinces, 
and  notably  in  Alsatia,  by  the  system  of  usury,  which 
threatened  to  cast  the  finest  estates  in  certain  districts 
into  the  hands  of  a  vile  and  degraded  race.  He  wished 
also  at  the  same  time  to  lead  the  Jews  on  to  the  practice 


NAPOLEON    I.  497 

of  mechanic  and  liberal  professions,  and  to  engage  in 
industries  of  which  honesty  approved.  To  effect  these 
useful  reforms,  an  assembly  of  the  principal  Jews  of 
France  and  Italy  had  been  convoked  in  Paris,  and 
there  were  appointed  as  commissioners  of  the  govern- 
ment at  this  meeting,  MM.  Mole,  Portalis  and  Pas- 
quier.  The  result  of  this  first  meeting  was  the  convo- 
cation of  a  great  Sanhedrin,  an  extraordinary  superior 
council,  at  which  formerly  state  and  church  matters 
were  decided  upon  in  Jerusalem,  and  which  had  never 
been  called  together  since  the  days  before  Jesus  Christ. 
This  council  stti  generis,  which  was  held  in  Paris,  in 
1807.  whilst  Napoleon  was  fighting  the  Russians  in 
Eastern  Prussia,  was  composed  in  conformity  with 
historical  traditions.  It  was  to  formulate  doctrinallv 
the  proposals  discussed  at  the  first  meeting.  M.  Mole, 
the  reporter,  in  his  account  of  the  motives  which  had 
decided  the  imperial  government  to  call  the  Sanhedrin 
together,  gave  a  magnificent  eulogy  of  Napoleon.  The 
novelty  of  such  a  spectacle,  this  resurrection  of  an 
authority  and  of  customs  dating  from  the  darkest 
ages,  excited  very  strong  curiosity  and  interest  at  the 
time.  Although  the  sittings  w'ere  held  in  camera,  a 
number  of  people  managed  to  be  present  and  the  result 
was  awaited  with  curiosity  by  the  outside  world.  To 
the  decisions  rendered  on  political,  civil  and  religious 
questions,  which  decisions  were  sanctioned  by  a  decree, 
the  Emperor  added  special  clauses  tending  to  en- 
courage the  Jews  to  engage  in  agriculture,  and  to 
render  all  illegal  trafficking  and  practices  of  usury 
impossible  amongst  them.  The  exceptions  from  the 
rights  common  to  other  citizens  which  had  necessarily 
to  be  imposed  on  the  Jews,  were  limited  to  a  period  of 
ten  years.  The  Emperor's  anxiety  to  settle  all  these 
questions  won  him  the  gratitude  of  the  enlightened 
memlx;rs  of  the  Jewish  world.    At  the  same  time,  the 


498  MEMOIRS    OF 

legislation  which  was  the  result  of  this  extraordinary 
assembly  did  not  sufficiently  satisfy  all  the  hopes  that 
had  been  staked  upon  it,  but  it  was  a  useful  precedent, 
and  time  might  also  bring  with  it  efficacious  reforms 
amongst  the  Jews,  as  well  as  a  cessation  of  their 
hostilities  against  the  Christians. 

A  decree,  dated  March,  1802,  had  required  the 
Institute  to  lay  before  the  government,  in  the  Council 
of  State,  a  general  table  of  the  progress  and  condition 
of  science,  literature,  and  art,  from  the  year  1789 
onwards.  This  report  was  to  have  been  ready  in  the 
month  of  September.  1803.  Extraordinary  circum- 
stances, such  as  the  rupture  of  the  Peace  of  Amiens, 
the  assembling  and  arming  of  the  Boulogne  flotilla, 
and  the  wars  with  Austria  and  Prussia  had  prevented 
the  presentation  of  this  important  document  to  the 
Emperor.  It  was  only  in  the  months  February  and 
March,  1808,  that,  before  his  departure  for  Bayonne, 
the  Emperor  was  able  to  listen  to  this  report.  The 
deputation  from  the  class  of  physical  and  mathematical 
sciences  was  admitted  first  into  his  presence,  and  the 
Academicians  Delambre  and  Cuvier  acted  as  spokes- 
men. The  Emperor  was  struck  with  the  eloquence 
and  clear-headedness  of  M.  Cuvier,  who  spoke  for 
several  hours.  Making  an  exception  to  his  rule  not  to 
remove  savants  from  their  studies.  Napoleon  ap- 
pointed M.  Cuvier  niaitre  dcs  rcqucfes  to  the  Council 
of  State,  and  entrusted  him  with  an  important  post  in 
the  imperial  University.  On  February  19th,  the  class 
of  ancient  history  and  literature  presented  its  report, 
through  M.  Dacier.  A  week  later  it  was  the  turn  of 
the  class  of  literature  and  belles-lettres,  for  whom 
Chenier  spoke.  This  report,  in  which  Chenier  dis- 
played both  taste  and  tact,  and  in  which  he  criticized 
the  powers  of  contemporary  celebrities,  who  are  so 
easily  wounded,  with  as  much  impartiality  as  talent, 


NAPOLEON    I.  499 

is  a  model  of  the  style  which  has  become  classical. 
On  Marcli  5th  following,  the  class  of  Fine  Arts  com- 
pleted the  table  of  human  knowledge  with  a  report 
which  was  presented  by  M.  Lebreton,  the  secretary 
to  this  class.  This  general  review  of  literature, 
science,  and  art  which  had  been  brought  into  existence 
by  Napoleon,  showed  that  human  intelligence,  far 
from  going  back,  did  not  halt  in  its  constant  march 
onward  towards  progress.  Napoleon  answered  each 
deputation  from  the  Institute  in  particular,  expressing 
to  the  reporters  the  satisfaction  he  felt  at  the  results 
obtained  by  their  researches  and  labors. 

The  Spanish  correspondence  and  some  fresh  letters 
which  the  Emperor  had  received  from  King  Charles 
IV.  during  his  journey  in  Italy  had  made  him  ac- 
quainted with  the  fresh  occurrences  of  which  Madrid 
had  been  ihe  scene.  The  Prince  de  la  Paix,  having 
been  informed  that  conferences  were  taking  place 
between  the  councillors  of  the  Prince  of  the  Asturias, 
Escoiquitz.  the  Duke  de  ITnfantado,  San  Carlos  and 
other  personages  of  the  court — with  the  object  of 
deposing  him — had  had  the  papers  of  the  Crown 
Prince  seized.  Various  documents  had  been  found, 
including  a  cipher  for  secret  correspondence,  and  a 
draft  nomination  of  the  Duke  de  ITnfantado  to  the 
command  of  New  Castile,  on  which  the  date  had  been 
left  blank.  It  was  a  matter  of  no  difficulty  for  the 
favourite  to  transform  these  discoveries  into  proofs  of 
a  premeditated  plan  of  attack  against  the  sovereignty 
and  the  person  of  the  king.  There  was  also  found 
amongst  the  Prince's  papers  the  draft  of  a  letter  which 
he  had  written  to  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  in  which  he 
had  asked  for  the  hand  of  one  or  the  princesses  of 
Napoleon's  family.  This  application  had  been  through 
the  secret  agency  of  the  French  ambassador,  I\I.  de 
Bcauharnais,  the  eldest  brother  of  the  first  husband 


500  MEMOIRS    OF 

of  the  Empress  Josephine.  This  envoy  whose  well- 
known  straightforwardness  and  fidelity  were  such  as 
to  keep  him  at  a  distance  from  the  favourite  Godoi, 
had  all  the  more  willingly  consented  to  transmit  this 
request,  that  he  knew  that  it  would  not  displease  the 
Emperor,  and  because  he  had  reasons  to  hope  that,  in 
case  the  Prince's  offer  was  accepted,  the  choice  of  Na- 
poleon might  fall  on  one  of  his  nieces,  who  were  also 
Josephine's  nieces.  As  a  matter  of  fact  Napoleon 
replied  to  his  ambassador  that  he  should  listen  to  all 
that  was  being  said,  should  show  himself  friendly 
disposed,  should  bind  himself  by  no  engagement,  but 
should  learn  everything  that  was  going  on,  and  keep 
Paris  constantly  informed  of  what  he  had  learned. 
These  were  the  only  recommendations  that  could  be 
made  to  our  representative  at  Madrid,  on  a  question 
in  which  no  definite  instructions  could  be  given,  see- 
ing that  the  government  had  come  to  no  definite  deci- 
sion, and  that  the  solution  of  this  question  had  per- 
force to  depend  on  altogether  unforeseen  events.  It 
was  not  diplomacy,  but  the  sword,  which  was  going 
to  play  the  first  and  only  part  in  this  matter. 

The  discovery  of  the  ill-considered  actions  of  the 
Crown  Prince  and  his  councillors  brought  about  their 
arrest.  But  the  council  of  Castile,  to  which  the  mat- 
ter was  submitted,  refused  to  condemn  the  heir  to  the 
throne.  The  prince  was  exonerated,  and  his  coun- 
cillors were  exiled. 

An  apparent  calm  had  followed  upon  these  storms. 
The  Prince  de  la  Paix  and  the  Queen,  however  much 
a  marriage  of  the  Crown  Prince,  which  would  place 
him  under  an  all-powerful  protection,  might  be  dis- 
tasteful to  them,  thought  it  good  policy  to  take  advan- 
tage of  Ferdinand's  application  to  the  Emperor.  It 
was  on  this  account  that  they  urged  the  king  himself 
to  ask  for  a  wife  for  his  son,  from  the  French  imperial 


NAPOLEON    I.  501 

family.  The  Prince  of  the  Asturias.  without  dignity 
and  witlioiit  courage,  had  denounced  his  friends,  and 
had  expressed  his  repentance  for  his  fault  to  the 
Queen  and  the  favourite,  humbling  himself  before 
them  with  all  the  tokens  of  the  most  abject  submission. 
Nevertheless,  and  in  spite  of  this  cowardice,  which 
should  have  disgusted  the  pride  of  the  Spanish  char- 
acter, Ferdinand  remained  the  nation's  idol,  so  intense 
was  the  hatred  against  the  Prince  de  la  Paix. 

This  unhappy  family,  so  little  worthy  of  notice,  put 
itself  at  the  mercy  of  a  powerful  neighbour,  who 
could  accord  it  neither  trust  nor  esteem.  It  laid  bare 
before  his  eyes  all  its  turpitudes,  its  impotence,  and  an 
incapacity  which  rendered  its  government  worthless, 
and  even  a  source  of  danger  to  France.  Spain  had 
indeed  fallen,  under  the  reign  of  Charles  IV.,  to  the 
lowest  depths  of  abasement.  Her  fleet  was  nil,  re- 
duced to  less  than  thirty  seaworthy  vessels  or  frigates, 
manned  by  crews  short  in  numbers,  whose  pay  was, 
for  the  most  part,  two  years  in  arrears.  The  arsenals 
and  the  storehouses  were  empty,  the  colonies  were  left 
to  themselves,  exhausted,  poor,  and  ready  to  separate 
from  the  metropolis  by  which  they  had  been  deserted. 
The  army  numbered  about  fifty  thousand  men  under 
arms,  badly  clothed,  badly  fed.  and  badly  paid.  A 
staff,  out  of  proportion  to  the  numbers  of  the  land  and 
sea  forces,  battened  on  the  feeble  war  supply.  Taxa- 
tion was  badly  levied  and  badly  collected.  The  treas- 
ury was  in  debt ;  industry  and  commerce  had  practi- 
cally ceased  to  exist ;  agriculture  was  neglected — 
abandoned  to  old  routine  and  nu'ned  by  the  annual 
migrations  of  innumerable  flocks  of  .sheep,  which  their 
proprietors  had  the  j)rivilegc  to  drive  from  the  North 
of  Spain  in  the  South,  and  which  devastated  the  im- 
mense flistricts  on  which  they  were  allowed  to  pasture. 
The   monarchy    was   governed   by   an    incapable   and 


502  MEMOIRS    OF 

weak-minded  king,  who  abandoned  the  reins  of  gov- 
ernment to  the  hands  of  a  vain  and  unprincipled 
favourite,  who  was  detested  by  the  nation,  and  who 
was  the  lover  of  a  dissolute  queen.  The  heir-presump- 
tive to  the  crown  was  a  prince  lacking  in  qualities  of 
heart  as  well  as  of  intelligence,  false,  profoundly  hypo- 
critical, and  the  blind  enemy  of  France. 

Such  was  the  state  of  Spain,  a  country  on  our 
frontiers,  whose  neighbourhood  is  of  such  importance 
to  our  safety.  Her  government  and  her  dynasty 
crawling  at  Napoleon's  feet  when  they  feared  his 
power  or  his  resentment,  had  wished  to  join  our  ene- 
mies in  1807,  at  the  time  of  the  rupture  of  the  nego- 
tiations which  had  been  opened  between  France,  Rus- 
sia, and  England;  at  the  time  of  the  declaration  of 
war  by  Prussia.  The  Prince  de  la  Paix,  thinking  that 
Napoleon  would  be  unable  to  resist  this  new  coalition, 
which  would  increase  in  size  at  the  first  reverse  he 
should  suffer,  had,  by  a  proclamation  dated  October 
3rd,  called  the  Spaniards  to  arms  against  an  enemy 
whom  he  did  not  name,  but  who  was  sufficiently 
clearly  indicated  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  any  mis- 
understanding. The  victory  of  Jena  had  opened  the 
Prince's  eyes.  He  sought,  on  the  one  hand,  to  dis- 
avow his  proclamation,  and  on  the  other,  to  try  and 
make  it  believed  that  it  referred  to  a  threatened  inva- 
sion of  the  Moors  in  Andulasia  and  a  landing  of  the 
English.  In  one  word  he  did  all  that  could  be  done 
to  secure  pardon  for  his  imprudent  act  of  bravado. 
But  the  Emperor's  confidence  was  destroyed  for  ever. 
Napoleon  made  up  his  mind  from  that  day  to  take 
his  precautions  against  a  perfidious  ally,  who  would 
rise  to  crush  him  if  ever  an  opportunity  of  doing  so 
with  impunity  should  present  itself.  He  demanded 
that  the  Spanish  Government  should  send  an  army 
of  fifteen  thousand  men  to  the  island  of  Elba,  to  serve 


NAPOLEON    I.  503 

as  auxiliaries  to  the  French   army,  and,   in  case  of 
necessity,  to  serve  as  hostages. 

The  events  which  had  since  occurred  in  Spain  had 
found  Napoleon  in  this  state  of  mind.  He  did  not 
know  what  line  of  action  to  adopt.  Should  he  ally 
himself  to  the  Spanish  royal  house  by  marriage? 
Should  he  seize  upon  the  Spanish  provinces  on  this 
side  of  the  Ebro,  or  should  he  change  the  Spanish 
dynasty?  In  his  heart  of  hearts  he  inclined  towards 
the  last  alternative.  Without  having  any  fixed  plan, 
the  Emperor  sent  into  Southern  Spain  divisions  of 
French  troops  assembled  under  the  names  of  the  Gi- 
ronde  and  Ocean  corps,  and  divisions  of  the  Eastern 
and  Western  Pyrenees.  He  placed  all  these  corps 
under  the  orders  of  the  Grand-duke  of  Berg,  and  gave 
him  instructions  to  advance  to  Burgos  and  there  to 
await  fresh  instructions  for  his  subsequent  move- 
ments. 

The  Spaniards  at  first  received  the  French  troops 
as  friends  who  had  come  to  deliver  them  from  the 
odious  yoke  of  Godoi  and  his  creatures.  Events 
crowding  on,  the  Grand-duke  of  Berg  had  thrown  off 
the  mask,  and  with  the  corps  which,  on  their  entry 
into  Spain,  had  followed  the  direction  of  Lisbon  and 
of  Gibraltar,  marched  upon  Madrid.  The  Spaniards 
reflected  that  such  a  number  of  troops  was  not  neces- 
sary to  drive  out  the  Prince  de  la  Paix;  the  capture 
by  surprise  of  the  fortresses  of  Barcelona.  Pampeluna, 
and  Saint  Sebastian,  only  increased  their  amazement 
and  their  suspicions.  Napoleon's  silence  on  his  plans, 
his  refusal  to  publish  the  Fontainebleau  convention, 
which  related  to  the  division  of  Portugal,  began  also 
to  fill  the  Spanish  court,  which  had  retired  to  Aran- 
jucz,  with  anxiety.  Secret  preparations  for  a  flight  to 
America  were  made,  the  pretext  of  these  preparations 
being  that  they  were  in  view  of  a  journey  to  Anda- 


504  MEMOIRS    OF 

lusia.  The  populations  of  Madrid  and  Aranjuez  be- 
gan to  grow  excited  at  what  was  happening.  The 
Court,  to  reassure  the  public  mind,  denied  any  inten- 
tion of  leaving  Spain,  and  published  this  denial  in  a 
proclamation,  but  all  in  vain.  In  the  night  of  March 
1 8th,  a  revolution  broke  out  in  Aranjuez.  The  mad- 
dened mob  threw  itself  upon  the  house  of  the  Prince 
de  la  Paix,  broke  down  the  doors  of  the  palace,  de- 
stroyed the  costly  furniture  in  the  apartments,  and 
flung  the  debris  out  of  the  windows,  hunting  for  the 
favourite  in  every  recess  for  the  purpose  of  murder- 
ing him.  He,  escaping  the  fury  of  the  mob,  came 
forth  from  the  retreat  in  which  he  had  been  able  to 
hide  himself  from  search,  after  thirty-six  hours  agony. 
Recognized  by  a  sentinel,  who  denounced  him,  he  was 
handed  over  to  the  bodyguards.  Protected  by  them 
he  succeeded  in  reaching  their  barracks,  pursued  by  a 
furious  crowd,  and  wounded  by  the  blows  which  he 
received  on  his  way.  The  Prince  of  the  Asturias,  on 
the  prayer  of  his  distracted  parents,  consented  to  in- 
tercede in  favour  of  his  enemy.  He  desired  the  pleas- 
ure of  enjoying  Godo'i's  humiliation,  and  of  casting 
up  in  his  face,  with  perfidious  joy,  the  grace  which  he 
accorded  to  the  favourite  of  his  family,  in  return  for 
all  the  wrong  which  he  had  done  him. 

The  King  and  Queen,  terrified  by  the  disaster  which 
had  befallen  their  well-beloved  Godoi,  feared  for  a 
moment  for  their  own  safety.  Charles  IV.  declared 
that  he  wished  to  abdicate.  By  a  deed  written  in 
haste  he  resigned  to  his  son  a  crown  which  he  had 
long  worn  without  glory,  and  the  people  of  Aranjuez 
went  to  hail  with  their  acclamations  their  new  king, 
in  the  midst  of  general  transports  of  delight. 

Napoleon,  hearing  of  these  events  in  Paris,  at  once 
sent  M.  de  Tournon  off  to  Madrid.  M.  de  Tournon 
was  one  of  his  chamberlains  and  orderlies,  and  had 


NAPOLEON    I.  505 

recently  returned  from  Spain,  where  he  had  been 
charged  with  a  mission.  General  Savary.  whose  skill 
and  devotion  were  appreciated  by  the  Emperor,  when- 
ever there  was  anything  difficult  to  be  done  was  sent 
off  on  the  morrow  with  the  same  destination. 

Here  arises  a  difficulty  which  till  now  has  remained 
without  solution,  as  often  happens  in  history.  A  let- 
ter addressed  by  the  Emperor  to  the  Grand-duke  of 
Berg,  under  date  of  Paris,  March  29th,  1808.  supposed 
to  have  been  entrusted  to  chamberlain  Tournon  to 
carry  to  its  destination,  has  been  quoted  by  numerous 
writers  who  have  written  about  the  Spanish  war  and 
revolution,  as  though  it  had  reached  its  destination, 
although  the  Grand-duke  of  Berg  never  received  it. 
This  letter  was  inserted  literally  into  the  Memorial  of 
St.  Helena,  but  cannot  have  been  communicated  by 
the  Emperor,  who  was  not  in  possession  of  his  papers. 
The  despatch  of  which  I  am  speaking  is  in  contradic- 
tion to  all  the  orders  and  despatches  which  either  pre- 
ceded or  followed  it.  No  trace  of  it  has  been  found 
either  in  the  archives  of  the  war-office  or  of  the  For- 
eign Office,  or  in  the  private  archives  at  the  Louvre. 
•No  allusion  was  made  to  it  in  any  of  the  letters  which 
followed  it.  It  may  be  added  that  it  contains  several 
material  irregularities.  It  is  dated  from  Paris,  where- 
as the  Emperor  was  at  St.  Cloud,  where  he  stayed 
from  March  22nd,  till  April  2nd,  1808 — the  day  of 
his  departure  for  Bayonne — and  he  always  used  to 
date  his  letters  from  St.  Cloud  when  he  happened  to 
be  there.  The  form  of  address  which  he  used  in  his 
letters  to  Murat  was  not  "  Sir,  the  Grand-duke  of 
Berg,"  but  "  My  cousin".  The  Emperor  clid  not  use 
the  expression  "  My  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  " — 
an  expression  which  only  dates  from  the  Restoration 
— but  used  to  say  "  My  Minister  of  Exterior  Rela- 
tions"— which  was  the  only  appellation  in  use  at  that 


5o6  MEMOIRS    OF 

time.  In  spite  of  these  slight  anomahes,  which  may 
have  arisen  from  unavoidable  oversights  in  the  nu- 
merous transcriptions  of  this  letter,  it  has  a  most 
authentic  character,  and  can  but  have  been  Napoleon's 
work.  He  alone  knew  how  to  write  on  such  matters. 
His  style  might  be  imitated,  his  thoughts  might  be 
rendered;  but  there  are  details  and  allusions  in  this 
letter  which  nobody  but  himself  could  have  known 
without  having  been  initiated  to  the  ensemble  of  his 
vast  conception  and  his  most  secret  thoughts. 

How  did  this  letter  come  to  be  published?  What 
was  the  filiation  ?  From  whose  hands  does  it  proceed  ? 
Was  the  draft  taken  from  the  archives  of  the  Louvre 
in  1814,  together  with  the  papers  referring  to  the 
Duke  d'Enghien,  and  the  occurrences  in  Spain,  in 
which  Prince  de  Benevent  was  implicated,  and  at  the 
time  when  he  got  possession  of  all  these  documents? 
Was  this  despatch  neglected  by  him  as  of  no  import- 
ance to  the  object  he  had  in  view?  or  was  it  saved  by 
chance  from  the  auto-da-fe  to  which  Talleyrand  con- 
signed all  the  papers  brought  back  from  the  Archives  ? 
as  was,  in  so  strange  a  fashion,  the  First  Consul's  let- 
ter relating  to  the  seizure  of  the  Duke  d'Enghien. 
The  most  probable  hypothesis  is  that  this  letter  to 
Murat  only  existed  in  the  form  of  a  draft,  that  it  was 
only  one  of  the  hundred  plans  with  which  Napoleon's 
mind  was  taken  up  during  the  laborious  elaboration 
of  this  most  difficult  enterprise.  The  Emperor  may 
have  been  brought  to  the  ideas  which  predominate  in 
this  letter  by  the  reports  which  he  received  from  M. 
de  Tournon,  who  had  just  travelled  through  Spain, 
and  had  pushed  on  as  far  as  Andalusia;  not  that 
Napoleon  would  have  allowed  himself  to  be  influenced 
by  the  opinions  of  his  chamberlain,  but  because  M.  de 
Tournon  quoted  actual  facts  which  he  had  witnessed, 
and  because  anything  that  so  candid  and  truthful  an 


NAPOLEON    I.  507 

officer  nuVht  relate  could  not  be  listened  to  otherwise 
than  with  great  attention. 

All  the  suppositions  that  one  may  indulge  in  will 
not,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  supply  the  key  to  this  enigma 
of  history,  and  the  Emperor's  letter  to  his  brother-in- 
law  Murat,  in  spite  of  all  investigation,  remains  sur- 
rounded with  a  mystery  which  the  author  of  the 
"  Memorial  of  St.  Helena "  did  nothing  to  dispel. 
The  clearness,  the  precision  of  the  terms  of  this  let- 
ter, the  allusion  to  the  attitude  to  be  observed  towards 
General  Solano  amongst  others,  disposes,  in  my  opin- 
ion, of  the  suggestion  of  those  who  have  believed  that 
this  document  was  manufactured  after  the  event.  Al- 
though I  have  abstained  from  reproducing  in  this 
work  historical  pieces  which  are  known  to  the  public, 
I  cannot  refrain  from  publishing  here,  word  for  word, 
this  most  curious  letter,  so  that  the  reader  may  have 
the  leading  features  of  the  question  under  his  eyes : — 

"  Paris,  March  2gth,  1808. 

"  Sir.  the  Grand-duke  of  Berg, — I  fear  lest  you 
be  deceising  me  on  the  situation  in  Spain,  and  lest  you 
be  deceiving  yourself.  Events  have  been  singularly 
complicated  by  the  affair  of  March  19th.  I  remain  in 
a  state  of  great  perplexity.  Do  not  imagine  that  you 
are  attacking  a  disarmed  nation,  and  that  you  have 
only  to  show  your  troops  in  order  to  reduce  Spain  to 
submission.  The  revolution  of  March  i8th  shows  that 
the  Spaniards  have  energy.  You  have  to  deal  with  a 
young  people.  It  has  all  the  courage,  and  will  have 
all  the  enthusiasm,  which  are  to  be  found  in  men  who 
have  not  been  worn  out  by  political  passions. 

"  The  ari'^tocracy  and  the  clergy  arc  the  masters  of 
Spain.  Should  they  tear  for  their  privileges,  and  for 
their  existence,  they  will  raise  levies  in  mass  against 
us,  which  may  continue  the  war  for  all  eternity.     I 


5o8  MEMOIRS    OF 

have  partisans  in  Spain,  but  if  I  present  myself  there 
as  a  conqueror  I  shall  have  no  more. 

"  The  Prince  de  la  Paix  is  hated  because  he  is 
accused  of  having  surrendered  Spain  to  France.  That 
is  the  grievance  which  served  Ferdinand's  usurpation. 
The  popular  party  is  the  weakest, 

"  The  Prince  of  the  Asturias  has  none  of  the  qual- 
ities which  are  indispensable  in  the  head  of  a  nation, 
but  that  does  not  prevent  his  being  set  up  as  a  hero  to 
oppose  us.  I  do  not  wish  any  violence  to  be  offered 
to  the  persons  of  this  family.  It  is  never  a  good  thing 
to  render  oneself  odious  or  to  inflame  hatred. 

"  Spain  has  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  men 
under  arms,  and  that  is  more  than  is  necessary  to 
carry  on  a  war  in  the  interior  with  success.  Divided 
over  several  points  each  division  may  form  the  nu- 
cleus of  a  general  rising  of  the  monarchy. 

"  I  am  placing  before  you  the  ensemble  of  such 
obstacles  as  are  inevitable.  There  are  others  which 
you  yourself  will  see. 

"  England  will  not  let  this  opportunity  of  increas- 
ing our  difficulties  escape.  Each  day  she  is  sending 
avisos  to  the  forces  which  she  keeps  on  the  coasts  of 
Portugal  and  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  she  is  enlist- 
ing Sicilians  and  Portuguese. 

"  The  royal  family  not  having  left  Spain  to  go  and 
settle  in  the  Indies,  nothing  but  a  revolution  can  change 
the  state  of  affairs  in  this  country.  It  is  perhaps  the 
country  in  Europe  which  is  least  prepared  for  a  revolu- 
tion. Those  who  see  the  monstrous  vices  of  this  gov- 
ernment, and  the  state  of  anarchy  which  has  replaced 
legal  authority,  are  in  the  minority;  it  is  the  majority 
who  profit  by  these  vices  and  this  state  of  anarchy. 

"  In  the  interests  of  my  empire  I  can  do  much  good 
to  Spain.  What  are  the  best  measures  to  be  taken? 
Shall  I  go  to  Madrid  ?    Shall  I  play  the  part  of  grand 


NAPOLEON    I.  509 

protector  and  decide  between  the  father  and  the  son  ? 
It  seems  to  me  difficult  to  allow  Charles  IV.  to  reign. 
His  government  and  his  favourite  are  so  unpopular 
that  they  could  not  survive  three  months. 

•'  Ferdinand  is  the  enemy  of  France,  and  that  is 
why  he  is  being  made  king.  To  place  him  on  the 
throne  would  be  to  play  into  the  hands  of  the  parties 
who  for  the  last  twenty-five  years  have  desired  the 
annihilation  of  France.  A  family  alliance  would  be 
a  feeble  tie.  Queen  Elizabeth  and  other  French  prin- 
cesses perished  miserably  when  it  was  possible  to  im- 
molate them  as  the  victims  of  hideous  vengeance.  I 
am  of  the  opinion  that  nothing  must  be  hurried  on, 
that  it  will  be  a  good  thing  to  be  guided  by  the  events 
that  will  follow.  The  army  corps  in  position  on  the 
Portuguese  frontiers  should  be  strengthened,  and  we 
should  wait.   .  .  . 

*'  I  do  not  approve  of  Your  Highness's  plan  of 
seizing  on  Madrid  with  such  precipitation.  The  army 
should  be  kept  at  a  distance  of  ten  leagues  from  the 
capital.  You  had  no  reason  to  be  assured  that  the 
people  and  the  magistracy  would  acknowledge  Ferd- 
inand without  opposition.  The  Prince  de  la  Paix 
must  have  partisans  in  the  public  offices.  The  old 
king  moreover  is  attached  to  him  by  force  of  habit, 
and  this  attachment  may  produce  results.  Your  en- 
try into  Madrid,  in  frightening  the  Spanish,  has 
served  Ferdinand  in  a  powerful  manner.  I  have  or- 
dered Savary  to  go  and  see  what  is  going  on  around 
the  old  king.  He  will  confer  with  Your  Imperial 
Highness.  I  shall  decide  later  on  on  what  nmst  be 
done,  in  the  meanwhile  these  are  the  instructions  which 
I  think  right  to  give  you.  You  will  not  engage  me 
to  any  interview  with  l-'erdinand  unless  you  deem  the 
position  of  affairs  to  be  sucii  that  I  nuist  acknowledge 
him  as  King  of  Spain.     Vou  will  behave  with  cour- 


510  MEMOIRS    OF 

tesy  and  consideration  towards  the  King,  the  Queen, 
and  Prince  Godoi.  You  will  insist  that  the  same  hon- 
ours are  paid  them  as  formerly,  and  you  will  pay  them 
these  honours  yourself.  You  will  act  in  such  a  way 
that  the  Spaniards  will  not  be  able  to  suspect  what 
line  of  action  I  intend  to  adopt,  and  this  will  be  a 
matter  of  no  difficulty,  seeing  that  I  myself  am  in 
ignorance  on  this  point. 

"  You  will  give  the  nobility  and  the  clergy  to  under- 
stand that  should  France  interfere  in  Spain's  affairs 
their  privileges  and  immunities  will  be  respected. 
You  will  tell  them  that  the  Emperor  desires  that  the 
political  institutions  of  Spain  should  be  perfected 
with  the  object  of  harmonizing  them  with  European 
civilization,  and  to  save  the  country  from  the  rule  of 
favourites  .  .  .  You  will  tell  the  magistrates  and 
townspeople,  the  people  of  education,  that  the  politi- 
cal machinery  of  Spain  needs  recasting,  that  she  is  in 
want  of  laws  which  shall  guarantee  her  citizens 
against  arbitrary  rule  and  the  usurpations  of  the 
feudal  families — of  institutions  which  shall  revive 
industry,  agriculture,  and  the  arts.  You  will  depict 
to  them  the  state  of  ease  and  repose  which  is  enjoyed 
by  France,  in  spite  of  the  wars  in  which  she  has  been 
engaged,  the  splendour  of  the  religion  which  owes  its 
re-establishment  to  the  Concordat  which  I  signed  with 
the  Pope.  You  will  point  out  to  them  the  advantages 
which  they  would  derive  from  a  political  regeneration 
— order  and  peace  at  home,  respect  and  power  abroad. 
Such  should  be  the  spirit  of  your  writings  and  of  your 
speeches.  Do  nothing  hastily.  I  can  wait  at  Bayonne. 
I  can  cross  the  Pyrenees  and  strengthening  myself 
towards  the  Portuguese  frontier,  carry  the  war  in  this 
direction. 

"  I  will  attend  to  your  private  interests ;  do  not  you 
attend  to  them  yourself  .  .  .     Portugal  will  remain 


NAPOLEON    I.  511 

at  my  disposal  ....  Let  no  personal  plan  occupy 
your  attention  nor  direct  your  conduct;  that  would  in- 
jure me,  and  injure  you  still  more.  You  go  too  fast 
in  your  instructions  of  the  14th.  The  march  which 
you  ordered  of  General  Dupont  is  too  rapid,  because 
of  what  happened  on  March  19th.  and  there  must  be 
changes  made.  You  will  give  orders  for  new  ar- 
rangements; you  will  receive  instructions  from  my 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  I  command  that  disci- 
pline be  most  rigorously  maintained ;  no  pardon  for 
small  faults.  The  inhabitants  must  be  treated  with 
the  greatest  consideration.  The  churches  and  the  con- 
vents must  especially  be  respected.  The  army  must 
avoid  any  encounter  cither  with  the  Spanish  army  or 
with  its  detachments.  Not  a  percussion  cap  must  be 
fired  on  either  side.  Let  Solano  get  beyond  Badajoz; 
have  him  watched ;  give,  in  person,  orders  for  the 
marching  of  my  army,  so  that  it  may  always  be  at  a 
distance  of  some  leagues  from  the  Spanish  troops. 
All  would  be  lost  if  war  w-ere  to  break  out. 

"  The  destinies  of  Spain  will  have  to  be  decided  by 
politics  and  negotiations ;  I  advise  you  to  avoid  any 
conversation  with  Solano,  or  other  Spanish  generals 
and  governors.  You  will  send  me  two  couriers  each 
day.  Should  anything  serious  happen  send  me  or- 
derly officers.  You  will  at  once  send  the  chamber- 
lain Tournon,  who  carries  this  despatch,  back  to  me, 
and  you  will  hand  him  a  detailed  report.  And  here- 
upon I  pray  God,  etc., 

"  (Signed)  Napoleon." 

In  the  meanwhile  the  old  sovereigns,  who  had 
remained  at  .'\ranjuez,  were  the  prey  of  mortal  ter- 
rors. Hearing  that  the  Grand-dukc  of  Berg  was  ap- 
proaching Madrid  they  secretly  sent  their  daughter 
the  Queen  of  Etruria  to  implore  him  to  protect  them. 


512  MEMOIRS    OF 

Prince  Murat  sent  them  an  officer  of  his  staff,  M. 
Bailly  de  Monthion,  to  reassure  them,  and  to  suggest 
to  them  that  they  should  protest  against  the  violence 
which  had  been  offered  to  them,  a  proposal  to  which 
they  lent  a  willing  ear.  On  March  21st,  two  days  after 
his  abdication,  Charles  IV.  signed  this  protestation 
and  sent  it  to  the  Grand-duke  of  Berg. 

Murat  sent  it  on  to  the  Emperor,  who  approved  of 
what  he  had  done.  Several  orders,  coming  one  after 
the  other,  had  enjoined  on  Murat  to  push  forward 
with  all  speed  to  Madrid.  Napoleon's  brother-in-law^ 
in  consequence,  made  his  entry  into  the  Spanish  capi- 
tal on  the  24th,  at  the  head  of  a  part  of  his  army. 

On  the  following  day  Prince  Ferdinand,  who  had 
left  Aranjuez  in  a  hurry,  made  haste  to  make  a  solemn 
entry  into  Madrid  as  though  to  take  possession  of  the 
rights  conferred  upon  him  by  his  adoption  by  the 
popular  party.  He  was  on  horseback,  surrounded  by 
his  officers,  and  was  enthusiastically  received.  The 
diplomatic  corps  came  to  present  their  respects  to  the 
new  King.  The  ambassador  of  France  stayed  away, 
Murat  having  declared  to  Ferdinand  that  he  could  not 
acknowledge  him  as  King,  as  he  had  received  no  in- 
structions concerning  him  from  the  Emperor. 

As  soon  as  Napoleon  was  apprised  of  these  facts 
he  decided  that  the  time  for  action  had  come.  In 
various  conferences  which  he  had  with  MM.  de  Tal- 
leyrand and  Champagny,  the  Spanish  question,  once 
more  brought  under  discussion,  came  up.  Various 
opinions  were  pronounced  in  the  course  of  these  con- 
versations on  the  alternatives  of  changing  the  Span- 
ish dynasty,  or  of  maintaining  it  in  power  after  tak- 
ing guarantees  for  the  future.  At  the  last  conference, 
which  was  held  on  the  eve  of  his  departure.  Napoleon 
did  not  express  his  own  opinion  on  the  matter  because 
his  mind  was  not  yet  made  up  as  to  what  line  of 


NAPOLEON    I.  513 

action  he  should  adopt,  and  because  he  wished  to  see 
with  his  own  eyes.  He  appeared,  in  the  course  of 
these  conversations  to  be  in  quest  of  cither  strong 
objections,  or  of  good  reasons  for  strengthening  him 
in  the  resohition  to  which  he  himself  inclined.  At  the 
same  time  nothing  was  decided  upon  at  this  meeting, 
and  the  Emperor  left  Paris  without  having  expressed 
any  fixed  determination. 

Before  leaving  Paris  the  Emperor  had  written  to 
his  brother,  tlie  King  of  Holland,  to  the  effect  that  in 
case  he  should  decide  to  change  the  Spanish  dynasty, 
he  had  thought  of  him  for  the  throne  of  Spain,  that 
this  was  only  a  project,  but  that  it  was  possible,  cir- 
cumstances aiding,  that  all  would  be  ready  in  a  fort- 
night, and  asked  him  for  a  straightforward  answer  to 
this  question:  "  If  I  should  create  you  King  of  Spain 
would  you  accept  the  throne?"  He  added  that  he 
expected  an  answer  of  "  Yes,"  or  "  No  " ;  that  nobody 
could  be  taken  into  his  confidence,  as  a  thing  ought 
to  be  done  before  it  had  been  thought  over,  etc.  Louis 
had  refused,  and  Napoleon  answered  him  that  in  con- 
sequence the  matter  could  no  longer  be  considered. 

The  Emperor  arrived  at  Bayonne  on  April  14th, 
after  having  spent  a  week  at  Bordeaux,  where  his 
stay  was  not  without  profit  to  the  commercial  interests 
of  this  city.  He  spent  two  days  at  Bayonne,  waiting 
that  the  Chateau  de  Marrac.  distant  about  a  league 
from  Bayonne,  which  he  had  purchased,  should  be  in 
a  state  to  receive  him  and  the  Empress  Josephine,  who 
was  to  meet  him  there. 

The  mission  of  General  Savary,  in  whom  Napoleon 
had  every  confidence,  was  to  see  the  French  ambassa- 
dor to  find  out  all  that  had  happened  at  Madrid  and 
Aranjuez,  to  assure  himself  of  the  real  state  of  affairs, 
to  see  whether  King  Charles's  abdication  was  genuine, 
and  to  ascertain  what  sort  of  a  man  the  Prince  of  the 


514  MEMOIRS    OF 

Asturias  was,  and  what  degree  of  confidence  he 
merited.  Napoleon  made  it  clear  to  General  Savary 
that  if  neither  the  father  nor  the  son  could  be  trusted, 
he  should  make  up  his  mind  to  dethrone  the  reigning 
family. 

On  his  arrival  at  Madrid,  General  Savary  saw  Prince 
Ferdinand  and  his  private  councillors.  He  found  them 
disposed  to  go  to  Bayonne  to  meet  the  Emperor,  with 
the  idea  that  so  marked  an  action  would  render  the 
powerful  sovereign  who  held  the  fate  of  Spain  in  his 
hand,  favourable  towards  the  new  king.  This  journey 
was  accordingly  decided  upon,  and  General  Savary  ac- 
companied the  prince. 

On  arriving  at  Vittoria,  Ferdinand,  who  had  ex- 
pected to  meet  the  Emperor  there,  refused  to  proceed 
any  further,  and  declared  that  he  would  wait  for  news 
of  Napoleon  in  that  city.  Savary,  having  in  vain  es- 
sayed to  get  the  better  of  the  Spanish  prince's  ob- 
stinacy, proceeded  to  Bayonne  where  he  arrived  some 
hours  before  the  Emperor.  To  the  searching  questions 
put  to  him  by  Napoleon  on  the  character  and  disposi- 
tion of  Ferdinand,  the  General  answered  by  expressing 
his  mistrust  of  the  sincerity  of  the  assurances  which 
had  been  made  to  him,  and  declared  that  in  his  opinion 
the  prince  would  be  governed  by  ministers  hostile  to 
France. 

The  Emperor  sent  General  Savary  back  on  the 
morrow  carrying  a  letter  in  which  he  invited  H.R.H. 
the  Prince  of  the  Asturias  to  come  to  Bayonne,  but  in 
which  he  made  no  promises,  and  in  no  way  pledged 
himself  towards  him.  During  Savary's  absence, 
several  Spanish  persons  of  importance,  amongst  others 
Urquijo,  the  former  minister,  had  been  to  see  the 
prince,  and  had  pointed  out  to  him  that  it  would  be  a 
want  of  dignity  and  of  prudence  on  his  part  to  cross 
the  frontier,  especially  considering  that  the  Emperor 


NAPOLEON    I.  515 

Napoleon  had  not  acknowledged  him.  Ferdinand  and 
his  counsellors  paid  no  attention  to  this  advice,  and 
the  Emperor's  letter  having  dispelled  their  hesitations, 
they  decided  to  leave  for  Bayonne  on  the  morrow. 

Just  as  Ferdinand  was  about  to  enter  his  carriage 
a  mob  of  armed  peasants,  who  had  joined  in  with  the 
people  who  filled  the  prince's  house,  wanted  to  prevent 
his  departure.  The  traces  of  the  carriages  were  cut, 
and  the  mules  were  led  back  to  the  stables.  The  Duke 
de  I'lnfantado,  throwing  himself  into  the  midst  of  the 
crowd,  succeeded  in  calming  the  rioters,  so  that  the 
mules  could  be  put  to  again,  and  the  carriages  were 
allowed  to  drive  ofi  without  further  hindrance.  On 
approaching  Bayonne,  the  prince,  who  was  beginning 
to  be  surprised  at  seeing  nothing  of  the  Emperor,  met 
General  Uuroc,  who  had  been  sent  to  meet  him,  and 
to  compliment  him  on  his  arrival.  Napoleon,  on  his 
side,  hearing  of  Ferdinand's  arrival  at  Bayonne, 
jumped  on  horseback,  and  rode  off  to  pay  him  a  first 
visit.  He  embraced  him,  but  only  addressed  him  as 
Royal  Highness.  On  his  return  to  Marrac  the  Em- 
peror sent  a  chamberlain  to  invite  the  Prince  and  his 
suite  to  dinner  at  the  castle. 

The  conversations  which  Napoleon  had  with  Ferdi- 
nand, and  the  persf^ns  who  had  accompanied  him,  very 
soon  showed  him  the  emptiness  and  vulgar  cunning  of 
this  prince's  character,  the  mediocrity  of  his  advisers, 
and  their  inability  to  direct  their  master.  These  first 
discoveries  were  not  of  a  nature  to  modify  the  Em- 
peror's way  of  thinking.  His  opinion,  accordingly, 
that  the  regeneration  of  Spain  under  such  rulers  was 
an  impossibility,  was  confirmed.  He  was  disappointed 
to  find  that  there  was  n(jt  amongst  the  Prince's  suite  a 
single  man  with  whom  he  could  speak  on  his  political 
views  with  regard  to  Spain.  It  was  to  Canon 
Escoujuitz,  the  most  intelligent  amongst  them,  and  the 

D — Mcuioiru  \'ol.  7 


5i6  MEMOIRS    OF 

adviser  who  was  most  in  the  Prince's  confidence,  tha!t 
Napoleon  thought  fit  to  open  his  mind.  He  according- 
ly told  this  priest  that  the  assistance  of  Spain  was  in- 
dispensable to  him  to  force  England  to  peace,  that 
the  deplorable  state  of  the  Spanish  monarchy  was  as 
disastrous  to  France  as  to  Spain  herself,  that  the 
scandal  of  the  scenes  at  the  Escurial  and  at  Aran- 
juez  had  shown  to  what  a  degree  the  dynasty  was  de- 
generated and  degraded,  and  that  it  was  quite  unable 
to  drag  the  monarchy  up  out  of  the  slough  into  which 
it  had  fallen.  This  too  plain  speaking  astounded  the 
canon  and  brought  him  down  from  his  castles  in  the 
air.  In  answer  to  his  plea  in  favour  of  his  pupil, 
Napoleon  made  even  more  positive  statements. 

Ferdinand,  to  w^hom  Esco'iquitz  reported  this  conver- 
sation, protested,  alleged  the  inalienable  rights  of  his 
family,  maintained  that  he  was  the  legitimate  king  by 
his  father's  abdication,  and  that  if  Charles  IV.  wished 
to  withdraw  his  abdication  it  was  to  him  alone  that  he 
would  surrender  the  crown. 

The  presence  of  the  old  sovereigns  being  alone  like- 
ly to  put  an  end  to  this  resistance,  the  Emperor  hurried 
on  their  arrival  as  well  as  that  of  the  Prince  de  la  Paix 
in  Bayonne.  The  Prince  de  la  Paix  had  been  treated 
with  extreme  severity.  Murat  was  obliged  to  use 
force  to  tear  him  from  the  hands  of  those  who  de- 
tained him,  and  who  were  firmly  resolved  that  he 
should  die  on  the  scaffold.  Napoleon  saw  Godoi  on 
his  arrival,  and  disguising  the  disgust  with  which  this 
person  inspired  him,  had  a  long  conversation  with 
him,  which  only  gave  him  fresh  cause  for  persever- 
ing in  his  determination  to  deprive  Ferdinand  of  his 
crown.  He  undertook  to  assure  incomes  in  proportion 
to  their  rank  to  the  old  King,  the  Queen,  and  the 
Prince  de  la  Paix. 

The  Spanish  sovereigns  arrived  at  last  on  April  30th, 


NAPOLEON    I.  517 

They  were  received  with  the  etiquette  paid  to  kings. 
The  Emperor  went  to  receive  them  on  their  entry  into 
Bayonne.  The  Empress,  who  had  arrived  at  Marrac  a 
few  days  previously,  went  to  comfort  the  old  queen, 
'i'here  was  hand-kissing,  according  to  the  Spanish 
custom.  Prince  Ferdinand  came  to  bow  to  his  father, 
but  Charles  indignantly  repelled  him,  and  forbade  him 
to  follow  him  into  his  apartment.  There,  their  dear 
friend  Godo'i  was  awaiting  them,  and  they  had  the 
pleasure  of  embracing  him.  He  told  them  about 
Napoleon's  plans,  and  they  had  no  objections  to 
make. 

They  came  to  dinner  at  Marrac  on  the  following 
day.  The  old  king,  weighted  by  his  infirmities,  leant 
on  the  Emperor's  arm  as  he  was  mounting  the  steps 
of  the  castle.  Napoleon  had  said  to  him :  "Lean  on 
me,  I  have  strength  enough  for  both  of  us." 

King  Charles's  protestation  against  his  abdication 
had  been  published  in  Madrid  and  was  addressed  to 
the  junta  formed  by  Ferdinand,  before  his  departure 
from  this  city,  a  junta  presided  over  by  his  uncle  Don 
Antonio.  By  the  terms  of  this  document  Charles  ad- 
dressed a  severe  letter  to  his  son,  reproaching  him  with 
his  guilty  conduct,  and  summoning  him  to  surrender 
the  crown.  Ferdinand  answered  that  although  he  had 
received  the  crown  by  his  father's  voluntary  abdica- 
tion, he  was  ready  to  resign  it  on  condition  that  the 
King  should  reign  in  person  and  that  the  restitution 
should  take  place  openly  at  Madrid  before  the  as- 
sembled Cortes.  But  King  Charles,  retracting  his 
forced  abdication,  declared  himself  sole  legitimate  king 
of  Spain,  and  added  that  in  view  of  his  absence  from 
his  kingdom,  he  appointed  the  Grand-duke  of  Berg  his 
lieutenant-general,  and  invested  him  with  all  his 
powers.  At  the  same  time  orders  were  given  that  the 
Infant  Don  Antonio,  the  King's  brf)ther,  president  of 


5i8  MEMOIRS    OF 

the  junta,  the  Infant  Don  Francis  de  Paule,  and  the 
Queen  of  Etruria,  who  had  remained  in  Madrid, 
should  be  sent  on  to  Bayonne. 

The  Spaniards  already  excited  by  the  scenes  which 
had  taken  place,  were  greatly  aroused  by  the  departure 
of  the  members  of  the  royal  family,  one  after  the 
other.  Ferdinand,  by  means  of  letters  and  couriers, 
who  were  despatched  in  disguise  from  Bayonne,  in- 
flamed the  excitement  of  the  public  and  kept  it  aglow. 
These  couriers  were  watched  and  arrested,  and  the 
papers  found  upon  them  were  conveyed  to  the  Em- 
peror's cabinet.  These  letters  were  filled  with  invec- 
tives and  curses  against  the  French  and  Napoleon. 
They  contained  false  news,  were  calculated  to  excite 
the  anger  of  the  people,  and  represented  the  Prince  of 
the  Asturias  as  the  victim  of  the  most  odious  treat- 
ment. These  lying  stories,  spread  broadcast  by  means 
of  bulletins  and  manuscript  notes,  were  read  with 
eagerness  everywhere.  So  greatly  did  they  arouse  the 
popular  mind  that  a  general  insurrection  broke  out  in 
Madrid  on  May  2nd.  Wounded  French  soldiers  in  the 
hospitals,  and  soldiers  and  officers,  found  alone  in  the 
streets,  were  massacred  without  pity  by  a  furious  and 
savage  mob. 

The  Emperor  heard  of  this  sad  occurrence  as  he  was 
returning  to  Marrac  on  horseback.  The  news  was 
brought  by  one  of  the  Grand-duke's  staff-officers,  M. 
d'Haneucourt,  who  later  on  became  Master  of  the 
Hunt.  In  a  violent  passion,  the  Emperor  turned  his 
horse  round  without  a  moment's  delay,  and  galloped 
off  to  find  King  Charles,  to  whom  he  showed  these  de- 
spatches. The  King  sent  for  the  Infants,  and  both 
he  and  the  Queen  spoke  to  Ferdinand  with  the  ex- 
tremest  severity.  The  King  brandished  his  stick  as 
though  about  to  strike  his  son.  The  Queen  was  in 
such  a  rage  that  she  forgot  herself  to  the  point  of 


NAPOLEON    I.  519 

walking  up  to  her  son  and  making  a  gesture  as  though 
to  box  his  ears.  The  prince,  standing  motionless,  and 
with  downcast  eyes,  did  not  answer  a  single  word. 
The  Emperor  put  an  end  to  this  painful  scene  by  in- 
forming the  Prince  of  the  Asturias  that  he  was  bound 
only  to  his  father,  that  he  acknowledged  Charles  alone 
as  King,  and  that  unless  Ferdinand  surrendered  the 
crown  which  he  had  usurped,  with  all  speed,  he  would 
be  treated  as  a  rebel.  Charles  IV.  cried  out  that  he 
did  not  want  a  crown  which  was  tarnished,  and  that 
he  renounced  a  country  in  which  an  ungrateful  son 
had  roused  every  passion  against  its  sovereign.  Ferdi- 
nand, covered  with  confusion  and  vexation,  left  the 
room,  followed  by  the  small  group  of  courtiers  who 
had  waited  for  him  in  the  outer  drawing-room. 

After  having  spent  a  moment  with  the  old  sover- 
eigns. Napoleon  left  them  and  returned  to  Marrac  lost 
in  thought,  and  only  emerging  from  this  state  of  ab- 
straction to  utter  bitter  reflections  on  the  state  of  deg- 
radation into  which  this  family  had  fallen. 

On  the  same  day  documents  were  drawn  up  which 
settled  the  position  of  the  Prince  of  the  Asturias,  at 
the  same  time  as  that  of  the  Infants,  who  were  not 
to  return  to  Spain.  The  castle  of  Navarre  was  given 
to  Prince  Ferdinand  in  fee  simple,  with  an  income  of 
one  million  francs.  A  pension  of  four  hundred  thou- 
sand francs  was  allotted  to  each  of  the  Infants.  The 
Prince  signed,  in  his  own  name  and  that  of  his  family, 
a  renunciation  of  the  crown  of  Spain  and  all  the  rights 
of  succession. 

King  Charles  refusing  to  accept  the  crown,  whose 
sole  proprietor  he  was  acknowledged  to  be.  he  surren- 
dered it  to  the  Emperor  to  dispose  of  as  he  might  think 
fit.  He  received  in  compensation  the  jxilace  and  forest 
of  Compiegne.  for  life,  and  the  castle  of  Chambord  in 
fee  simple,  with  an  income  of  thirty  million  reals — 


520  MEMOIRS    OF 

seven  million  five  hundred  thousand  francs — to  be  paid 
him  from  the  public  Treasury  of  France. 

Such  is  a  plain  statement  of  the  facts  which  brought 
about  this  great  catastrophe,  freed  from  particulars 
which  certain  historians  have  added  in  induction  to  the 
principal  fact,  and  which  they  have  explained,  not  al- 
ways with  justice.  I  have  only  related  what  in  the 
sphere  of  my  duties  I  saw  and  learned.  It  does  not  be- 
hoove me  to  set  myself  up  as  the  judge  of  Napoleon's 
conduct  in  an  enterprise  the  object  of  which — as  must 
perforce  be  admitted — was  eminently  a  national  one. 
If  the  legality  of  the  means  employed  did  not  corre- 
spond to  the  grandeur  of  the  scheme,  it  remains  proved 
that,  in  the  Bayonne  transaction.  Napoleon  was  im- 
pelled by  the  interests  of  France  far  more  than  by  any 
other  motive,  and  that  the  change  of  dynasty  was  only 
the  consequence  of,  and  an  accessory  to,  the  system 
which  he  wished  to  establish  in  Spain. 

The  forcible  act  essayed  in  the  peninsula  has  been 
explained  as  caused  by  a  fixed  determination  on  the 
part  of  Napoleon  to  remove  the  Bourbons  from  every 
throne  in  Europe;  but  that  was  only  a  secondary  idea 
with  him;  it  was  rather  the  state  of  Spain  that  awoke 
his  solicitude.  Spain,  whose  prosperity  was  as  im- 
portant to  France  as  to  the  country  itself,  which  was 
the  continuation  of  our  soil,  was  in  a  state  of  decay 
which  would  inevitably  have  led  to  her  falling  an  easy 
prey  to  England.  The  future  was  not  in  Napoleon's 
hands.  However  much  the  Spanish  Government  might 
at  that  time  be  subjected  to  his  wishes,  this  govern- 
ment had  none  the  less  desired  to  join  the  coalition  on 
the  eve  of  the  battle  of  Jena.  As  long  as  Napoleon 
should  reign,  this  government  would  not  dare  to  betray 
him,  but  would  it  be  the  same  with  the  Emperor's  suc- 
cessors? The  servile  submission  of  this  royal  family 
showed  the  master  of  France  how  foolhardy  and  dan- 


NAPOLEON    I.  521 

geroiis  it  would  be  to  rely  on  such  princes.  The 
Spanish  Government  placed  its  ships,  troops,  and 
feeble  resources  at  Napoleon's  disposal  at  this  moment 
and  without  hesitation.  In  spite  of  certain  secret  com- 
munications with  England,  suspected  by  the  Emperor, 
but  which  had  remained  without  any  immediate  re- 
sult, France  had  not  a  sufficiently  strong  motive  to 
declare  war  with  Spain,  and  to  expel  the  Bourbons  by 
force.  This  line  of  action,  had  it  been  justifiable  by 
apparent  causes,  would  have  been  worthier  of  Napo- 
leon, but  he  could  not  adopt  it  in  the  absence  of  any 
plausible  motive,  without  exciting  public  reprobation. 
Louis  XIV.,  acting  in  a  dynastic  interest,  had  been  ad- 
mirably served  by  Charles  IL's  testament.  Napoleon, 
prompted  by  a  national  interest,  failed;  he  had  no 
choice  of  means.  He  remains  exposed  to  the  blame 
of  posterity,  which  would  have  absolved  him  if  his 
work,  the  defects  of  which  show  themselves  owing 
to  its  want  of  success,  had  been  able  to  last  and  to 
bring  with  it  the  many  benefits  which  would  have  re- 
sulted for  France  and  Spain.  This  enterprise  would 
have  succeeded,  as  did  the  War  of  Succession,  if  the 
coalition  had  not  deprived  Napoleon  of  the  time  and 
the  possibility  of  applying  his  strength  and  his  atten- 
tion to  it.  by  constantly  drawing  him  on  to  new  strug- 
gles which  removed  him  from  the  object  in  view. 
The  national  resistance  and  antipathy  even,  would  have 
been  overcome  in  the  end;  the  influence  of  men  en- 
lightened as  to  the  real  interests  of  their  country  would 
have  prevailed,  and  the  masses  would  have  followed 
ihem.  The  advantages  of  the  constitution  of  Bayonne, 
the  prosperity  which  its  application  would  have  con- 
ferred on  the  people;  the  protection  which  the  French 
alliance  would  have  assured  to  our  neighbours  by  the 
interest  we  had  to  render  them  prosperous  and  power- 
ful— all  these  causes  together  would  in  time  have  sub- 


522  MEMOIRS    OF 

jugated  the  Spaniards.  Napoleon  can  be  blamed  in  this 
matter  neither  for  precipitation  nor  for  caprice.  His 
plan  had  been  matured  and  carried  out  with  the  neces- 
sary slowness  and  prudence.  He  had  in  his  favour  his 
omnipotence,  the  prosperous  state  of  France.  Europe  at 
that  time  pacified,  and  a  close  alliance  with  Russia. 
The  moment  seemed  favourable;  it  was  neither  too 
late  nor  too  early.  Napoleon  himself  has  said  that  he 
was  forced  to  seize  the  opportunity  offered  to  him  by 
fortune  to  regenerate  Spain,  to  remove  her  from  the 
clutches  of  England,  and  to  unite  her  closely  to  our 
system.  In  doing  so,  he  was,  in  his  opinion,  laying 
one  of  the  fundamental  bases  of  the  repose  and  se- 
curity of  Europe. 

The  illegality,  however,  of  the  means  employed  was 
the  frequent  subject  of  Napoleon's  reflections,  and 
maintained  him  in  a  continual  state  of  perplexity.  His 
mind  revolted  against  perfidious  conduct,  for  he  had 
an  instinctive  loathing  for  crooked  and  tortuous  ways. 
He  hesitated  for  a  long  time  between  various  lines  of 
action.  He  had  thought  of  a  family  alliance;  but 
nothing  is  more  precarious  than  a  political  marriage. 
Another  plan  was  to  take,  in  guise  of  pledges,  the 
Spanish  provinces  on  this  side  of  the  Ebro,  but  that 
would  have  deeply  offended  the  inhabitants  of  these 
provinces,  and  would  have  kept  them  continually  ready 
to  revolt.  He  was  forced  to  go  back  to  the  plan  of 
dethroning  the  reigning  family;  the  events  that 
crowded  on  disposed  of  the  Emperor's  irresolutions; 
an  outraged  father,  supplanted  by  his  son,  abandoned 
by  his  people,  urged  on  by  a  fear  for  his  own  safety, 
by  the  necessity  of  having  recourse  to  the  protection 
of  his  ally,  and  by  the  fear  with  which  the  violence  of 
the  factions  inspired  him — a  guilty  son,  vile  and  nerve- 
less, dominated  by  evil  passions — both  came  to  throw 
themselves  into  Napoleon's  arms.     This  combination 


NAPOLEON    I.  523 

of  extraordinary  circumstances,  the  news  of  the 
Madrid  insurrection,  which  had  been  encouraged  by 
Ferdinand,  an  insurrection  in  the  course  of  which 
Frenclimen  had  been  massacred  in  the  hospitals  and  in 
the  streets,  all  these  things  together  urged  the  Emperor 
on.  When  he  saw  the  Spanish  princes  at  his  feet,  and 
had  gauged  their  worthlessness  and  weakness,  Napo- 
leon considered  himself  "an  instrument  of  Provi- 
dence." The  scandalous  scenes  which  he  witnessed 
amongst  the  members  of  this  family  deprived  him  of 
all  confidence  in  the  stability  of  an  alliance  with  these 
princes.  The  old  king  refused  to  return  to  Spain. 
Could  Napoleon,  even  if  he  had  been  so  disposed,  force 
this  prince  to  resume  his  crown  ?  King  Charles's  ante- 
cedents, his  impotence,  the  aversion  which  he  had  pro- 
voked through  his  favourite,  made  the  Emperor  see 
only  too  clearly  that  such  a  restoration  was  not  practi- 
cable. Should  Ferdinand  then  have  been  sent  back  to 
Madrid?  But  that  would  have  meant  handing  Spain 
over  to  England,  and  to  the  parties  which  were 
hostile  to  France.  Napoleon  confirmed  his  resolution, 
in  consequence,  to  confide  the  destinies  of  the  neigh- 
bouring kingdom  to  the  hands  of  a  Frenchman.  The 
generous  wish  to  rescue  so  interesting  a  nation  from 
the  state  of  decay  to  which  it  had  been  reduced  by 
the  government  of  a  degenerate  race  of  kings  had  as 
much  to  do  in  forming  Napoleon's  resolutions  as  the 
necessity  of  putting  an  end  to  a  line  of  policy,  vacil- 
lating in  the  present,  and  certain  to  be  hostile  in  tlie 
future. 

The  Emperor  sent  a  pressing  invitation,  by  courier, 
to  King  Joseph,  to  come  to  Bayonne.  In  the  interview 
which  he  had  with  his  brother  at  Venice,  in  1807,  Na- 
poleon had  spoken  to  him  of  the  various  chances  which 
might  be  brought  about  by  the  dissensions  by  which 
tlic  Spanish  reigning  house  was  divided;  but  without 


524  MEMOIRS    OF 

expressing  any  definite  idea  on  the  subject  at  the  time. 
Napoleon  went  to  meet  the  King  of  Naples  on  his  ar- 
rival at  Bayonne,  informed  him  of  the  views  he  enter- 
tained concerning  him,  and  urged  him  to  agree  to 
them.  He  had  hoped  that  Lucien  would  have  accepted 
the  conditions  which  he  wished  to  impose  on  him  at 
Mantua.  If  Lucien  had  been  more  docile  under  his 
demands.  Napoleon  would  at  this  time  have  placed  him 
on  the  throne  of  Naples,  which  was  given  to  Murat, 
the  Grand-duke  of  Berg.  Whilst  awaiting  the  arrival 
of  his  brother  Joseph,  Napoleon  occupied  himself  with 
providing  that  the  Spanish  colonies  should  remain 
faithful  to  their  allegiance.  With  this  object  in  view 
he  had  sent  out  from  the  various  ports  of  Spain,  Por- 
tugal, and  France  a  number  of  light  ships  freighted 
with  arms  and  munitions,  and  carrying  proclamations, 
to  the  ports  of  Southern  America.  The  Emperor  also 
ordered  reports  on  the  state  of  the  Spanish  finances, 
army,  and  navy,  to  be  laid  before  him,  and  gave  orders 
that  a  subsidy  of  twenty-five  millions,  taken  from  the 
funds  of  the  extraordinary  domain,  should  be  ad- 
vanced to  the  Spanish  treasury  to  meet  the  most  press- 
ing needs  of  the  country.  And  finally,  he  ordered  the 
dispersion  of  the  Spanish  troops  in  the  peninsula,  and 
the  distribution  of  the  French  soldiers  over  various 
parts  of  the  territory,  at  the  points  where  they  were 
most  needed,  to  be  in  readiness  to  check  the  first  at- 
tempts at  insurrection. 

Napoleon  had  understood  that  a  change  of  dynasty 
could  not  be  effected  without  the  intervention,  in  some 
form,  of  the  Spanish  nation,  and  that  is  the  reason  why 
he  desired  to  convoke  to  Bayonne  an  assembly  of  lead- 
ing men  in  the  various  classes  of  the  State.  He  intro- 
duced his  brother  Joseph  to  the  most  influential  men, 
who  all  offered  him  their  services,  and  hailed  him  as 
the  regenerator  of  their  country.    The  result  of  this  as- 


NAPOLEON    I.  525 

sembly  of  Spanish  notables  was  a  constitution  which 
contained  all  the  elements  of  the  regeneration  of  Spain. 
If  the  fanaticism  of  the  monks,  who  had  a  representa- 
tive in  each  family;  if  the  influence  exercised  by  the 
greatness  and  too  generous  exaltation  of  the  national 
feeling  of  self-respect  had  not  annulled  the  benefits  of 
this  constitution,  Spain  would  to-day  have  been  far 
advanced  on  the  road  of  prosperity,  which  the  consti- 
tution drawn  up  at  Bayonne  opened  out  before  her 
feet. 

Whilst  the  deliberations  of  the  junta  were  proceed- 
ing, Charles  IV..  the  Queen,  and  the  Prince  de  la  Paix 
left  for  Fontainebleau.  The  Infants,  followed  by  the 
Duke  de  San  Carlos  and  Canon  Escoiquitz,  were  sent 
to  the  Castle  of  Valan(;ay.  which  had  been  selected  by 
the  Emperor  as  the  residence  of  these  princes.  Taken 
by  surprise,  and  dragged  on  by  the  rapidity  with  which 
events  had  crowded  on,  Napoleon  had  only  just  the 
time  to  send  word  to  Prince  de  Benevent,  tp  whom  this 
estate  belonged,  and  who  had  remained  in  Paris,  to 
proceed  to  Valangay  and  to  receive  the  Infants. 

King  Joseph  passed  from  the  throne  of  Naples  to 
the  throne  of  Spain  and  the  Grand-duke  of  Berg  went 
to  take  his  place  in  Naples.  The  Grand-duchy  of  Berg, 
left  vacant  by  Murat,  was  united  to  the  French  Em- 
pire, and  was  given,  in  1810,  to  the  eldest  son  of 
Prince  Louis,  after  the  latter  had  abdicated  and  re- 
nounced the  crown  of  Holland. 

This  business  having  been  disposed  of,  the  Emperor, 
accompanied  by  the  Empress,  left  Marrac  to  return 
to  Paris.  He  spent  a  day  at  Pau  and  at  Tarbes.  At 
Pau  he  occupied  the  castle  where  Henri  IV.  was  born. 
This  castle,  situated  at  a  distance  of  a  thousand  yards 
from  the  town  had  since  been  restored,  and  has  be- 
come an  imperial  residence.  At  1\'irl)cs  the  Emperor 
slept  at  the  prefect's  mansion,   where  he  noticed,   in 


526  MEMOIRS    OF 

one  of  the  drawing-rooms,  a  fine  portrait  of  Lays,  the 
celebrated  Opera  singer,  one  of  the  glories  of  the  de- 
partment. 

Napoleon  only  spent  twelve  hours  at  Auch.  Hear- 
ing that  General  Dessoles,  who  had  refused  to  fill  the 
functions  of  chief  of  the  staff  to  General  Lannes  at 
Boulogne,  was  living  in  the  neighbourhood,  retired  in 
a  country  house,  he  charged  Prince  de  Neufchatel  to 
offer  him  a  post.  General  Dessoles  had  disapproved 
of  the  condemnation  of  Moreau,  and  without  express- 
ing his  discontent,  had  found  some  pretext  for  retiring 
from  the  service.  He  had  been  chief  of  the  staff  to 
,  this  celebrated  general.  He  had  filled  the  same  post 
'  in  the  army  in  Hanover,  when  this  army  was  under 
the  command  of  the  Prince  de  Ponte-Corvo,  and  had 
even  commanded  it  during  the  Marshal's  absence. 
General  Dessoles  had  grown  to  hate  the  Emperor  with 
a  hidden  hatred  during  these  two  campaigns,  a  hatred 
which  he  had  not  dared  to  make  public,  but  which 
burst  out  with  violence  in  1814.  Napoleon,  who  ad- 
mired this  general  officer's  talents,  had  no  hesitation  in 
making  the  first  advances.  He  entrusted  him  with  the 
command  of  a  division  in  Spain.  General  Dessoles 
asked  to  be  recalled  after  some  time.  This  incon- 
stancy of  humour,  or  rather  this  hidden  ill-will,  did 
not  exhaust  the  Emperor's  patience,  and  at  the  time  of 
the  expedition  to  Russia  he  appointed  the  general  chief 
of  the  staff  to  Prince  Eugene.  After  the  taking  of 
Smolensk,  Dessoles  once  more  asked  to  be  allowed  to 
leave  the  army  on  the  pretext  of  bad  health.  He  was 
present  in  Paris,  in  1814,  at  the  time  of  the  entry  of 
the  allies.    It  is  known  how  he  behaved. 

The  stay  of  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress,  for  two 
days,  at  Toulouse,  their  journey  to  Montauban  and 
Agen  were  marked  by  the  wild  enthusiasm  which 
Napoleon's  presence  excited  everywhere.    His  appari- 


NAPOLEON    I.  527 

tion  was  always  followed  by  measures  calculated  to 
increase  the  prosperity  of  the  towns  and  provinces 
which  he  visited,  ^^ladame  de  Balbi,  an  old  friend  of 
the  Comte  de  Provence,  who  afterwards  became  Louis 
XVIII..  happened  to  be  at  Montauban  at  the  time.  I 
had  occasion  to  see  her  in  Paris,  after  the  Restoration, 
and  to  hear  her  boast  before  me  of  having  been  an 
honourable  exception  to  the  general  joy  which  was 
manifested  at  Montauban  at  the  time  of  Napoleon's 
visit. 

Whilst  the  Emperor  was  pursuing  his  way  through 
the  departments  of  the  South,  the  insurrection  in  Spain 
had  become  general.  The  news  of  the  double  abdica- 
tion of  Charles  IV.  and  of  Ferdinand,  and  King 
Joseph's  proclamation  had  brought  about  an  explosion 
of  the  feelings  of  hatred  which  only  wanted  an  oppor- 
tunity to  burst  out.  In  the  space  of  a  week,  towards 
the  end  of  May,  the  East.  North,  and  West  of  Spain 
were  on  fire.  The  Spaniards  had  risen  as  one  man. 
The  arsenals  had  been  ransacked,  and  the  people  had 
armed.  Juntas  had  been  formed  and  a  mass  levy  was 
being  organized  on  every  side.  The  mob  took  the  ini- 
tiative everywhere,  and  imposed  its  umbrageous  and 
savage  authority.  In  the  chiefs  who  were  in  authority 
it  saw  none  but  traitors.  Most  of  the  captains-general 
were  murdered,  because  they  refused  blind  obedience 
to  the  riotous  passions  of  the  mob.  The  least  hesita- 
tion was  puni.shed  with  a  cruel  death.  Enlightened 
men,  both  military  and  civil,  who  feared  reprisals 
from  France,  and  who,  satisfied  with  the  fall  of  a 
shameful  government,  looked  for  the  reform  of  abuses 
and  the  benefits  oi  a.  government  which  was  anxious 
to  cause  its  usurpation  to  be  forgotten,  essayed  to 
calm  the  fury  of  the  mob.  They  fell  victims  to  their 
own  wi-sdom  and  patriotism ;  the  furious  mob  pursued 
them  into  refuges  most  worthy  of  re.spect,  nuirdering 


528  MEMOIRS    OF 

them  in  the  arms  of  their  own  soldiers,  or  of  their 
families.  Their  bodies  were  dragged  through  the 
mud ;  their  heads  were  carried  at  the  end  of  pikes.  The 
remnant  of  the  French  fleet  which  had  escaped  the  dis- 
aster of  Trafalgar  had  taken  refuge  in  the  port  of 
Cadiz.  When  this  insurrection  broke  out,  this  feeble 
squadron,  having  lost  all  hope  of  being  rescued  by 
General  Dupont's  corps,  hemmed  in  by  the  English  and 
the  Spaniards,  was  obliged  to  surrender  at  discretion  to 
the  latter,  to  escape  destruction  without  revenge. 

The  fury  of  the  Spanish  mob  kept  increasing,  and 
excited  the  rioters  to  treat  our  unhappy  prisoners 
with  the  refinements  of  unheard-of  ferocity.  They 
crucified  some  of  these  wretched  soldiers  to  trees, 
others  were  hung  up  and  fires  were  lighted  beneath 
their  feet.  Others  were  buried  alive ;  some  were  sawn 
asunder  between  two  planks.  The  pen  refuses  to  re- 
cord the  acts  of  horrible  and  inhuman  barbarism  which 
these  cannibals  indulged  in  towards  their  unfortunate 
victims.  Women  and  children  were  treated  with  the 
most  abominable  cruelty.  It  was  whilst  at  Bordeaux 
that  the  Emperor  heard  the  sad  news  of  the  capitula- 
tion of  Ba'ilen.  The  dishonourable  conditions  of  this 
capitulation,  the  unworthy  conduct  of  the  Spanish 
generals,  who,  not  satisfied  with  insulting  them,  had 
refused  bread  and  water  to  our  soldiers,  who  were 
dying  of  hunger,  and  who  were  choking  under  the 
burning  and  implacable  sun — all  this  desolating  news 
filled  Napoleon  with  indignation  and  grief.  These 
feelings  reached  their  highest  pitch  when  he  heard  how 
horribly  the  ferocious  mob  had  treated  those  of  our 
soldiers  whom  it  could  not  kill,  pursuing  them  all 
along  the  roads  with  stones  and  knives.  Able-bodied, 
invalid,  or  wounded  soldiers,  not  one  had  been  able  to 
escape  the  most  revolting  and  most  ignominious  treat- 
ment.   To  crown  these  horrible  excesses  of  mob  fury. 


NAPOLEON    I.  529 

the  junta  of  Seville  refused  to  recognize  the  capitula- 
tion, declared  the  French  prisoners  of  war,  and  had 
them  conducted  to  Cadiz,  which  they  only  reached 
after  having  faced  a  thousand  dangers — pillaged, 
robbed,  insulted,  and  running  the  risk  of  being  mur- 
dered every  minute  of  the  day. 

This  disastrous  day  of  Bailen.  during  which  twenty 
thousand  French  soldiers  had  marched  past  and  laid 
down  their  arms  before  enemies  who  had  always  fled 
before  them  in  the  open  field,  was  a  reverse  without 
example  in  the  military  history  of  the  new  France. 
It  put  a  stain  on  our  arms  and  dishonoured  the  glory 
which  till  then  they  had  enjoyed.  It  struck  a  most 
serious  blow  against  our  prestige  in  Spain.  This 
unexpected  success,  indeed,  electrified  the  Spaniards, 
and  dragged  into  the  revolution  those  who  were  still 
hesitating.  Napoleon  was  thunderstruck  by  this  un- 
expected blow.  A  brave  army  had  been  struck  by 
fate,  and  a  spirit  of  dizziness  had  disabled  its  leaders. 
How,  indeed,  can  so  fatal  an  error  be  explained  on 
the  part  of  a  general — General  Dupont — whose  mili- 
tary career  had  been  most  honoural3le  and  often  bril- 
liant, and  for  whom  the  Emperor  destined  in  the  fu- 
ture a  Marshal's  baton;  on  the  part  of  another  general 
officer  of  the  highest  merit — General  Marescot — who 
till  then  had  been  esteemed  and  appreciated  by  Napo- 
leon, and  finally  on  the  part  of  General  Vedel,  who 
had  distinguished  himself  by  brilliant  feats  of  arms 
before  Ulm,  and  at  Friedland.  but  whose  misfortune 
it  was  to  be  too  loyal  to  military  discipline?  To  crown 
all,  one  of  the  Emperor's  equerries  was  one  of  the 
staff-oflicers  of  this  army,  and  had  been  sent  there  on 
his  request  to  enter  the  military  .service.  His  capacity 
as  an  officer  of  the  imperial  household  had  given  him, 
in  this  dei)lorable  occurrc-nce,  a  role  of  confidence  and 
a  kind  «>f  ill-considered  authority  which  had  been  fatal. 


530  MEMOIRS    OF 

General  Marescot,  chief  inspector  of  engineers,  hap- 
pened by  chance  to  be  at  the  head-quarters  of  the 
Dupont  corps.  Charged  to  reconnoitre  the  fort  of 
Cadiz,  he  had  been  forced  to  follow  the  movements  of 
this  corps  in  consequence  of  the  insurrection  of  the 
province  of  Seville.  He  was  present  at  the  affair  at 
Bailen,  and  yielding  to  pressing  instances,  he  had  con- 
sented to  undertake  to  negotiate  for  a  capitulation. 
He  had  proceeded  at  once  to  the  Castagno's  camp, 
dressed,  it  is  said,  in  the  Spanish  uniform,  for  what 
reason  is  unknown,  and  had  signed  at  the  bottom  of 
this  shameful  agreement,  a  name  which  till  then  had 
been  without  reproach.  The  necessity  of  making  an 
example  forced  the  Emperor  to  punish  this  general. 
He  was  dismissed  from  all  his  commissions.  His 
wife  shared  his  disgrace,  and  lost  her  place  as  lady-in- 
waiting  to  the  Empress  Josephine.  Although  Napo- 
leon felt  very  sorry  to  have  to  act  with  such  severity 
towards  a  lady  whom  he  esteemed,  Madame  Marescot 
was  forced  to  understand  that  it  was  impossible  for 
her  to  remain  at  the  palace  any  longer. 

The  persons  who  had  signed  the  capitulation  of 
Bailen  were  kept  in  prison  for  longer  or  shorter  peri- 
ods. A  draft  of  a  decree  was  presented  to  the  Coun- 
cil of  State  to  decide  upon  the  manner  of  their  being 
sent  to  trial,  but  no  effect  was  given  to  this  measure. 
The  Emperor  has  been  rightly  blamed  for  not  having 
sent  the  culprits  before  a  court-martial,  which  would 
have  published  their  judgment.  The  interruption  of 
these  proceedings  has  been  attributed  to  an  arbitrary 
will.  Napoleon's  first  impulse  was  to  deal  out  severe 
justice,  but  reflection  restrained  him.  It  may  be  that 
he  thought  that  publicity  would  put  forward  beyond 
recall  these  shameful  circumstances,  and  thus  add 
fresh  ignominy  to  the  insult  which  stained  our  flag. 
To  this  consideration  may  be  added  another  which 


NAPOLEON    I.  531 

will  be  equally  blamed  by  the  partisans  of  national  jus- 
tice. An  irrevocable  condemnation,  such  as  a  sentence 
of  death,  would  have  been  the  probable  result  of  this 
trial,  besides  the  scandal.  These  condemnations  would 
have  deprived  Napoleon  for  ever  of  the  help  of  offi- 
cers whose  conduct  had  been  irreproachable  until  the 
day  of  a  fatal  error  which  did  not  in  his  eyes  utterly 
efface  the  value  of  their  past  services.  Extraordinary 
circumstances  might  arise,  which  would  give  them  the 
opportunity  of  making  up  in  a  brilliant  manner  for 
what  they  had  done,  as  happened  in  1813,  for  the 
brave  General  Vedel.  amongst  others,  whom  Napo- 
leon only  blamed  for  having  shown  a  too  passive  obedi- 
ence to  the  orders  of  the  commander-in-chief,  Dupont, 
at  Bailen. 

On  leaving  Bordeaux,  Napoleon  had  proceeded 
towards  the  Vendee  department,  passing  by  Saintes 
and  Roche  fort.  He  was  received  as  a  benefactor. 
Men  and  women,  old  and  young,  left  their  farms  to 
rush  in  crowds  to  the  road  on  which  the  Emperor  and 
the  Empress  were  to  pass,  and  to  hail  them  with  ac- 
clamations of  joy,  which  certainly  were  not  given  to 
order.  The  traces  of  the  civil  war  which  had  devas- 
tated these  beautiful  provinces  had  disappeared.  Large, 
fine  roads  in  every  direction  increased  the  means  of 
communication.  From  the  desert  that  it  had  been, 
this  district  had  become  peopled  and  flourishing.  The 
principal  town  in  the  district.  Ville-Napoleon.  was 
alrcarly  supplied  with  its  chief  public  establishments, 
others  were  in  course  of  construction.  Numerous 
private  houses,  recently  built,  were  all  tenanted.  In 
the  audiences  which  the  Emperor  gave  to  the  mayors 
and  to  the  priests,  who  had  come  together  more  than 
two  hunrlrcd  strong,  to  the  soldiery  and  to  the  guards 
of  honour,  he  questioned  each  on  the  needs  of  his  de- 


532  NAPOLEON  I. 

partment  and  accorded  new  favours.  The  gratitude 
which  the  Vendeens  displayed  towards  the  hand  which 
had  restored  their  prosperity  was  the  best  guarantee 
of  the  resistance  which,  in  case  of  need,  they  would 
oppose  to  any  fomenters  of  fresh  discords. 

From  Napoleon- Ville  the  Emperor  went  to  spend 
three  days  at  Nantes,  where  he  was  not  idle.  He 
visited  Angers,  Tours,  and  Blois  and  arrived  at  St. 
Cloud  on  August  14th,  1808. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

THE  Emperor's  return  took  place  on  the  eve  Oi 
his  fete,  which  was  celebrated  with  the  cus- 
tomary solemnities.  The  same  day  the  Senate 
gave  a  very  beautiful  fete  in  the  Luxembourg  gardens 
— Free  performances  were  given  at  all  the  theatres — 
The  staff  officers  of  the  imperial  guard  celebrated  Saint 
Napoleon  with  a  banquet  of  three  hundred  covers 
in  the  rooms  of  the  Palais-Royal.  The  City  of  Paris 
offered  a  banquet,  followed  by  a  ball  to  the  Emperor, 
who  was  present  with  the  Empress  and  the  whole  of 
the  Court. 

At  the  audience  on  the  following  Sunday  the  Rus- 
sian ambassador  presented  gifts  consisting  of  jasper 
vases,  and  malachite  tables,  columns,  and  cups  of 
extraordinary  size. 

On  the  same  day  Napoleon's  statue,  which  was  in- 
tended for  the  Place  Vendome,  and  which  had  just 
been  cast  most  successfully,  was  conveyed  to  this 
square.  This  statue,  executed  by  Chaudet,  had  been 
cast  out  of  the  metal  of  the  cannons  taken  from  the 
enemy. 

The  Emperor  spent  the  five  weeks  which  followed 
on  his  return  from  Bayonne  at  St.  Cloud.  He  received 
there  the  new  Persian  ambassador  at  a  solemn  au- 
dience given  on  this  occasion.  The  ambassador's 
name  was  Asker-Khan.  He  had  been  sent  to  him  to 
continue  the  friendly  relations  which  had  been  estab- 
lished at  F'inckenstein  by  Mirza-Rizza.  The  ambas- 
sador spoke  in  the  name  of  the  hereditary  Prince 
of  Persia.     He  was  commissioned  to  offer  the  swords 

533 


534  MEMOIRS    OF 

of  Tamerlane  and  Thamas-Koulikan  to  the  Emperor. 
Amongst  the  presents  which  he  offered  were  some 
fine  Cashmere  shawls,  some  of  which  were  given  to 
the  Empress  and  the  ladies  of  her  court,  in  the  Em- 
peror's name. 

Napoleon  went  to  Paris  several  times,  to  be  present 
at  the  fete  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  to  visit  constructions 
of  public  utility,  to  see  the  panoramas,  and  for  the 
receptions  of  the  diplomatic  corps  which  took  place  at 
the  Tuileries.  During  one  of  his  short  stays  in  Paris 
he  went  to  view  the  great  picture  of  the  coronation 
in  David's  studio.  He  was  accompanied  on  this  occa- 
sion by  the  Empress  and  her  court.  Napoleon  had 
pardoned  David's  errors,  on  condition  that  he  would 
devote  himself  exclusively  to  the  art  in  which  he  ex- 
celled, and  had  appointed  him  his  first  painter.  The 
Emperor's  visit  to  David's  studio  was  an  encourage- 
ment given  to  the  arts. 

The  news  of  the  capitulation  of  Bailen,  by  which 
twenty  thousand  French  soldiers  had  laid  down  arms, 
in  the  open  field,  an  event  more  deplorable  for  French 
arms  than  the  surrender  of  Ulm  had  been  to  Austria, 
had  produced  the  worst  possible  impression  in  Mad- 
rid. A  general  defection  declared  itself,  not  only 
amongst  the  Spanish  grandees  who  after  having  taken 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Joseph  Bonaparte  had  ac- 
companied him  to  Madrid,  but  even  amongst  the  per- 
sons in  his  service.  The  wildest  and  most  absurd  re- 
ports were  spread  abroad  by  the  monks  and  all  the 
enemies  of  France  to  excite  the  mob,  blind  in  its 
anger,  to  the  most  extreme  excesses.  The  fiery  and 
savage  character  of  the  idle  and  excitable  populations 
of  the  towns  and  country  exaggerated  these  reports 
still  more.  The  most  sensitive  fibres  of  the  people 
were  worked  upon,  its  national  pride,  its  religion, 
its  attachment  to  its  princes.     A  new  divine  scourge 


XAPOLEOX    I.  535 

had  come  upon  them  to  destroy  their  nationahty.  to 
tear  them  from  their  homes  and  to  send  them  to  per- 
ish in  icy  chmates  and  in  distant  wars,  victims  of  an 
all-devouring-  ambition.  Shackles  for  chainins^  them 
two  bv  two  had,  it  was  said,  been  brought  with  the 
French  troops.  From  these  impressions  greedily  ac- 
cepted by  the  Spanish  mob,  there  had  resulted  a  hatred 
of  the  French,  profound,  implacable,  and  exalted  to 
the  pitch  of  ferocity.  The  occupation  of  Madrid  had 
become  impossible.  King  Joseph  decided  to  evacuate 
it.  He  left  in  broad  daylight  on  July  31st,  passing 
through  the  town  in  the  midst  of  the  extreme  agita- 
tion which  had  been  caused  by  the  announcement  of 
his  departure.  He  was  followed  by  some  of  his  min- 
isters and  retired  to  Vittoria  with  a  portion  of  the 
first  French  army  which  had  entered  into  Spain.  The 
general  rising  which  followed,  the  animosity  which 
began  to  characterize  the  war  in  this  country,  the  res- 
olution which  the  Emperor  had  taken  to  go  there  in 
person,  made  Napoleon  feel  the  necessity  of  assuring 
himself  that  Russia's  disposition  was  the  same,  and 
of  conferring  on  this  subject  with  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander. An  interview  was  accordingly  proposed  to  the 
Czar. 

The  time  and  place  of  this  interview  having  been 
settled,  the  Emperor  left  Paris  on  September  22nd  to 
proceed  to  Erfurth,  where  the  interview  was  to  take 
place. 

On  the  same  day  the  first  column  of  the  Great 
Army  arrived  in  Paris.  It  w^as  received  at  the  Pan- 
tin  gate  by  the  municipal  body,  and  was  oflfered  the 
gold  crown  which  had  been  voted  to  the  Great  Army 
after  the  battle  of  Austerlitz.  This  column  was  fol- 
lowed by  several  others,  which  passed  through  Paris 
one  after  the  other  on  their  way  to  Spain.  All  were 
received  with  the  same  solemnity  by  the  municipal  an- 


536  MEMOIRS    OF 

thorities,  and  the  City  gave  banquets  and  fetes  in 
their  honour  on  this  occasion. 

Marshal  Lannes  had  been  sent  to  receive  the  Em- 
peror of  Russia  on  the  frontier  of  the  district  occu- 
pied by  the  French  army.  Napoleon  arriving-  at  Er- 
furth  first,  went  to  meet  Alexander  at  a  league  and  a 
half  from  the  town,  which  the  two  sovereigns  en- 
tered to  the  sound  of  bells  and  the  firing  of  cannon. 
They  had  exchanged  the  insignia  of  their  orders. 
During  the  stay  of  the  emperors  at  Erfurth  Napo- 
leon always  placed  the  Emperor  Alexander  on  his 
right  hand  to  show  that  it  was  he  who  was  doing 
the  honours  and  was  in  his  own  place.  The  houses 
which  they  occupied  had  been  furnished  by  the  garde- 
meiihlc  of  the  French  crown  and  the  cost  had  been 
paid  by  the  French  civil  list.  The  Kings  of  Saxony, 
Bavaria,  Wurtemburg,  the  Prince  Primate,  the  Grand- 
duke  and  Grand-duchess  of  Baden,  the  Dukes  of  Sax- 
ony and  most  of  the  Princes  of  the  Confederation  of 
the  Rhine  came  to  Erfurth.  The  Emperor  Napoleon 
received  the  Emperor  Alexander,  the  Grand-duke  Con- 
stantine,  his  brother,  and  the  sovereigns  to  dinner 
every  day.  At  one  of  these  dinners  Napoleon  notic- 
ing that  Alexander  had  forgotten  his  sword,  pre- 
sented him  with  his  own. 

The  leading  actors  of  the  Theatre-Frangais  gave 
numerous  performances  of  our  best  tragedies.  On 
the  first  day  the  emperors  occupied  a  box  situated  in 
the  centre  of  the  theatre.  This  distance  from  the 
stage  prevented  Alexander  from  hearing  the  actors' 
voices  distinctly,  he  being  rather  deaf.  Napoleon  then 
gave  orders  that  a  dais  should  be  raised  in  the  orches- 
tra, and  two  arm-chairs  for  the  emperors  and  chairs 
for  the  kings  were  placed  upon  it.  It  was  during  one 
of  these  performances  that  Alexander  bending  over 
to  Napoleon  quoted  to  him  this  line  of  the  "  Oedipus  " 


NAPOLEON  I.  537 

to  which  Voltaire's  jT;reat   reputation  could  not  give 
the    celebrity,    which    it    acquired    after    this    occur- 
rence : 
"  The  friendship  of  a  great  man  is  a  gift  of  the  gods.'' 

Alexander's  conduct  was  altogether  in  harmony 
with  the  feeling,  feigned  rather  than  sincere,  which 
had  prompted  him  to  make  this  quotation.  The  two 
sovereigns  spent  three  weeks  at  Erfurth,  on  terms  of 
the  most  intimate  familiarity,  riding  out  together  and 
reviewing  the  French  troops.  Hunting-parties,  ban- 
quets, balls,  and  theatrical  performances  were  given 
at  Weimar  to  the  whole  Court  of  Erfurth  by  the 
Duke  of  Saxe-Weimar.  The  battle-field  of  Jena  was 
visited  by  the  two  Emperors. 

Goethe  and  Wieland  were  presented  to  Napoleon 
who  was  very  anxious  to  make  their  acquaintance. 
These  two  illustrious  poets  were  received  by  him  with 
the  highest  distinction  and  justified  in  his  eyes  the 
opinion  he  had  formed  of  their  merits.  Napoleon  car- 
ried away  with  him,  from  the  long  conversations 
which  he  had  with  them,  a  high  esteem  for  their  tal- 
ents and  for  their  character.  He  gave  them  a  proof 
of  this  by  decorating  them  with  his  own  hands  with 
the  order  of  the  Legion  of  Honour. 

On  his  return  to  Erfurth  the  Emperor  gave  an 
audience  to  Baron  Vincent,  the  Austrian  cnvoyc. 
The  suspicious  conduct  of  the  Vienna  Cabinet  aroused 
too  much  distrust  in  Napoleon's  mind  to  make  him 
wish  to  invite  the  Emperor  Francis  or  his  Prime  Min- 
ister to  the  Erfurth  meeting.  M.  de  Vincent  came  to 
bring  to  Napoleon  the  protestations  of  friendship  of 
which  the  Austrian  Cabinet  was  so  lavish;  he  also 
came  to  see  what  was  going  on.  I  will  mention  later 
what  support  this  cnvoyc  hoped  tn  find  at  Erfurth 
for  the  success  of  his  mission. 


538  MEMOIRS    OF 

On  the  same  day  a  convention  was  signed  between 
the  two  Emperors.  Its  object  was  to  renew  the  Til- 
sitt  alHance,  to  make  an  application  in  common  to  the 
London  Cabinet,  and  finally  to  acknowledge  the  new 
acquisitions  of  Russia  and  the  new  state  of  things 
in  Spain.  After  this  business  had  been  settled  the 
sovereigns  took  leave  of  each  other  and  presents  were 
exchanged.  The  Emperor  Alexander,  who  professed 
to  treat  me  with  great  kindness  presented  me,  as  a 
mark  of  his  favour,  with  a  box  ornamented  with  his 
cipher  in  diamonds,  worth  about  ten  thousand  francs. 
I  first  heard  of  it  from  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  who 
authorized  me  to  accept  it.  Alexander  came  to  take 
leave  of  Napoleon,  who  accompanied  him  on  horse- 
back to  the  place  where  his  carriages  were  waiting 
for  him.  During  this  long  ride  the  two  sovereigns 
conversed  together  alone.  Alexander  embraced  Na- 
poleon, on  leaving  him,  with  all  the  appearances  of 
great  cordiality.  They  were  to  meet  again,  sword 
in  hand.  The  vivacity  of  these  demonstrations  was 
the  last  expression  of  a  friendship  which  had  no  other 
motive  than  Alexander's  ambition.  It  had  been  agreed 
at  Tilsitt  that  they  should  meet  again  later  on  to  come 
to  an  understanding,  as  the  Czar  hoped,  on  the  Turk- 
ish question.  Napoleon's  refusal  to  agree  to  Alex- 
ander's demands,  or  for  the  time  being  to  permit 
anything  further  than  the  annexation  of  Wallachia 
and  Moldavia  to  Russia,  began  to  cool  this  prince 
towards  an  alliance  which  appeared  to  him  sterile, 
seeing  that  it  did  not  carry  all  the  fruits  that  he  had 
hoped  to  win  from  it. 

It  may  not  be  useless  to  point  out  that  about  two 
months  after  Alexander's  return  from  Erfurth  to  St. 
Petersburg  the  King  and  Queen  of  Prussia  entered 
the  Russian  capital.  Their  Prussian  Majesties  had 
arrived   the  evening  before — January  6th,    1809 — ^^ 


NAPOLEON    I.  539 

Strelna,  an  imperial  pleasure  house,  situated  at  a  dis- 
tance of  two  stages  from  St.  Petersburg.  Alexander 
hastened  to  see  them  and  had  a  long  conference  with 
them.  He  returned  to  Strelna  on  the  following  morn- 
ing, before  the  solemn  entry  into  St.  Petersburg  and 
remained  closeted  for  two  hours  with  the  King  and 
Queen. 

The  Emperor  Alexander  was  accompanied  to  Er- 
furth  by  Count  Romanzotif,  whom  I  mention  because 
Napoleon  paid  special  attention  to  him.  This  Minis- 
ter enjoyed  his  master's  entire  confidence  and  showed 
himself  the  outspoken  partisan  of  the  French  alliance. 
M.  de  RomanzofT  urged  on  the  realization  of  Peter 
and  Catherine's  projects  on  the  Orient  Empire.  When 
the  friendly  relations  which  he  had  so  carefully  main- 
tained between  Russia  and  France,  broke  off,  he  sent 
in  his  resignation  from  all  his  posts,  either  because 
he  saw  in  this  change  of  policy  an  abandonment  of 
the  scheme  of  a  division  of  Turkey,  or  because  he  did 
not  wish  to  co-operate  in  the  system  of  an  alliance  with 
England  against  which  he  always  declared  himself. 
He  carried  with  him,  into  his  retirement,  the  respect 
of  all  and  retained  his  sovereign's  esteem,  which  was 
frequently  expressed  in  the  most  honouring  terms. 
He  devoted  his  leisure  to  letters  and  science.  An  en- 
lightened protector  of  Russian  commerce  and  indus- 
try, he  employed  the  largest  part  of  his  immense  for- 
tune in  founding  philanthropical  establishments,  in 
maritime  expeditions,  in  the  publication  of  articles 
and  ancient  documents  on  the  history  of  Russia.  He 
gave  encouragement  to  Russian  and  foreign  savants 
and  opened  his  vast  and  wealthy  library  to  them. 

In  the  memoirs  left  by  M.  de  Talleyrand,  memoirs 
of  which  some  passages  have  been  made  public,  which 
his  secretaries  copied  and  in  the  writing  of  which 
some  of  them  even  co-operated,  there  is  to  be  found  a 


540  MEMOIRS    OF 

curious  chapter  of  which  I  give  the  substance  further 
on.  It  refers  to  the  conferences  which  took  place 
between  the  two  sovereigns  of  France  and  Russia  at 
Erfurth,  in  1808,  previous  to  the  campaign  which  Na- 
poleon made  in  person  in  Spain.  After  the  Restora- 
tion M.  de  Talleyrand  spoke  with  complacency  of  his 
conduct  at  that  time.  The  revelations  which  follow 
are  accordingly  no  betrayal  of  a  secret.  Moreover  if 
I  anticipate  the  time  fixed  by  himself  at  which  the  pub- 
lic is  to  be  initiated  into  his  confidence,  I  shall  be  par- 
doned his  want  of  discretion.  Already  and  from  now 
on,  this  important  person  belongs  to  history  as  a 
public  man.  He  has  fallen  into  the  domain  of  the 
chronicler. 

When  the  Erfurth  interview  had  been  agreed  upon 
between  the  two  sovereigns,  the  Emperor  Napoleon, 
although  the  Prince  de  Benevent  was  no  longer  a 
Minister  and  had  been  replaced  by  M.  de  Champagny, 
took  both  of  them  with  him  to  Erfurth.  Long  accus- 
tomed to  the  Prince's  services  he  could  not  dispense 
with  him  altogether  under  certain  circumstances.  He 
considered  that  this  minister's  skill  in  diplomatic  con- 
ferences and  his  knowledge  of  his  political  views, 
might  be  useful  to  him.  If  this  imprudence  towards 
a  man  who  had  acted  badly  to  him  and  whom  he  had 
not  allowed — and  rightly  so — to  add  the  Ministry  of 
Exterior  Relations  to  the  dignity  of  Vice-Grand-Elec- 
tor and  the  post  of  Grand  Chamberlain — was  often 
harmful  to  Napoleon,  it  may  be  said  that  the  fault 
he  committed  in  allowing  Talleyrand  to  come  to  Er- 
furth was  fatal  to  the  Emperor.  At  Erfurth  Napo- 
leon specially  employed  Prince  de  Benevent  in  his  con- 
fidential communications  with  the  Emperor  Alexan- 
der. I  do  not  know  whether  the  Emperor  was  well 
informed  of  the  nature  of  the  nocturnal  conversations 
which  Talleyrand  used  to  have  with  the  Czar  at  the 


NAPOLEON    I.  541 

house  of  the  Princess  of  Thurn  and  Taxis,  after  the 
theatre,  which  the  sovereigns  visited  ahnost  every 
evening.  What  were  these  conversations?  Prince  de 
Benevent  undertook  to  answer  that  question  not  only 
in  his  Memoirs,  but  in  his  private  conversations. 

M.  de  Talleyrand  used  to  come  to  the  levee  every 
morning  at  Erfurth.  When  everybody  had  left,  Na- 
poleon detained  him.  He  spoke  to  him  of  his  plans, 
of  his  views  on  the  Ottoman  Empire,  of  Spanish  af- 
fairs, of  the  attitude  which  he  wished  to  maintain 
tow^ards  tiie  Emperor  Alexander,  of  the  advantages 
which  he  hoped  to  derive  from  his  alliance  with  him, 
and  of  the  gradual  concessions,  which  he  proposed  to 
make  him.  Prince  Talleyrand  admits  that  he  had  no 
scruples  in  betraying  these  confidences  to  the  Czar  in 
their  conversations  in  the  evening.  He  thus  prepared 
this  prince  for  the  communications  which  were  to  be 
made  to  him  by  Napoleon  warning  him  of  the  hidden 
purpose  of  the  insinuations  which  would  be  made  to 
him.  Alexander  used  to  speak  at  Erfurth  of  his  ar- 
dent desire  to  visit  Paris,  of  how  pleased  he  should 
be  to  be  present  at  the  meetings  of  the  Council  of 
State  presided  over  by  Napoleon,  and  to  be  able  to 
initiate  himself  under  such  a  master  to  the  science  of 
government.  I  do  not  know  how  far  this  wish  was 
sincere.  I  heard  the  Czar  speak  about  it  with  appar- 
ent earnestness,  but  Talleyrand's  revelations  must 
have  considerably  modified  the  Czar's  wish  to  increase 
his  intimacy  with  Napoleon.  Admitting  that  this  ex- 
minister  did  not  envenom  his  master's  confidences,  it 
will  easily  be  understood  that  this  kind  of  confidences 
always  touches  on  delicate  matters,  which,  when  they 
are  approached  without  mission  and  without  being 
treated  with  the  necessary  opportuneness  and  circum- 
spection, are  liable  to  be  wrongly  interpreted  and  to 
produce  depkjrable  eflects. 


542  MEMOIRS  OF 

Prince  de  Benevent  did  not  content  himself  with 
abusing  Napoleon's  confidence,  as  regards  Russia. 
He  rendered  Austria — another  service.  M.  de  Met- 
ternich  having  been  unable  to  procure  an  invitation 
to  his  sovereign  to  come  to  Erfurth,  had  remained  in 
Paris,  where  he  was  kept  by  his  functions  as  ambas- 
sador. The  Austrian  Cabinet  could  not  dispense  with 
the  presence  of  a  representative  at  Erfurth.  The 
Emperor  Francis  accordingly  despatched  an  envoye 
there,  bearing  a  letter  of  which  the  apparent  purpose 
was  to  congratulate  Napoleon  on  the  occasion  of  his 
presence  in  Germany  and  to  reassure  him  on  the  justly 
suspected  disposition  of  the  Austrian  Cabinet:  the  real 
object  of  this  mission  being  to  find  out  what  was  go- 
ing on  at  Erfurth  and  to  try  and  gather  what  was 
being  planned  against  Austria.  The  Baron  de  Vin- 
cent, whom  the  Prince  de  Benevent  had  already  pre- 
sented to  the  Emperor  at  Warsaw,  under  almost  anal- 
ogous circumstances  was,  as  we  have  seen,  selected  for 
this  mission.  He  received  orders  to  see  M.  de  Talley- 
rand and  to  listen  to  what  he  would  tell  him.  The 
Prince  de  Benevent  used  to  explain  his  secret  rela- 
tions with  the  Emperor  of  Russia  and  with  the  Aus- 
trian minister  in  a  manner  which  is  related  below. 
It  is  difficult,  however,  to  believe  that  they  were  to- 
tally disinterested  on  his  part,  although  I  have  no 
proof  of  the  price  which  Austria  paid  for  such  pre- 
cious advice.  As  concerns  the  reward  given  by  the 
Emperor  Alexander,  we  may  quote  the  following  fact, 
amongst  other  proofs  of  the  Czar's  gratitude. 

In  the  course  of  one  of  the  audiences  which  Napo- 
leon accorded  to  the  Prince  de  Benevent,  and  of  which 
the  latter  made  the  use  which  has  been  seen,  the 
Emperor  told  him  that  in  his  private  conversations 
with  Alexander  the  latter  had  come  to  speak  of  the 
eventuality  of  a  divorce  on  Napoleon's  part  and  the 


NAPOLEON    I.  543 

necessity  of  his  remarrying  and  at  the  same  time  had 
indirectly  offered  him  the  liand  of  one  of  the  Grand- 
duchesses  of  Russia. 

M.  de  Talleyrand  at  once  saw  the  advantage  to 
himself  that  he  could  derive  from  this  confidence.  He 
congratulated  the  Emperor  Alexander  on  the  subject 
and  then  skilfully  seizing  his  opportunity,  said  to 
him:  "Sire,  since  your  Majesty  is  in  so  happy  a 
matrimonial  disposition,  you  will  allow  me  to  ask 
a  favour.  I  have  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  my  eldest 
nephew,  a  young  man  full  of  promise.  There  remains 
one  whom  I  wish  to  marry  with  advantage,  but  there 
is  no  prospect  of  doing  so  in  France.  The  Emperor 
keeps  all  his  rich  heiresses  for  his  aides-de-camp. 
Your  Majesty  has  amongst  your  subjects  a  family 
with  which  it  is  my  greatest  desire  to  ally  myself. 
The  hand  of  the  Princess  Dorothea  of  Courland 
would  crown  the  wishes  of  my  nephew-  Edmund." 
The  Emperor  Alexander,  who  had  often  declared  his 
wish  to  be  agreeable  to  Prince  de  Benevent,  at  once 
promised  him  his  assistance  in  the  matter  and  told 
him  that  it  was  his  intention  on  returning  to  St. 
Petersburg  to  stop  at  the  house  of  the  Duchess  of 
Courland.  that  he  would  take  Edmund  de  Perigord 
with  him.  who  being  at  that  time  attached  to  the 
French  embassy  in  Russia  had  accompanied  the  Duke 
of  Vicence  to  Erfurth,  that  he  would  undertake  that 
the  Duchess  would  accept  him  and  that  the  matter 
might  be  considered  settled. 

After  the  stories  which  M.  de  Talleyrand  has  told 
himself,  with  all  particulars,  of  what  passed  between 
him  and  the  Emperor  of  Russia  and  the  .Xustrian 
envoye  at  Erfurth,  one  would  like  to  know  what  pre- 
text he  puts  forward  to  justify  his  conduct.  This  is 
the  pretext.  Frightened  by  the  dangerous  jjrogress  in 
power    of    Napoleon.    Prince    de    Benevent    had    the 


544  MEMOIRS    OF 

patriotic  inspiration  to  endeavour  to  check  the  impetu- 
osity of  his  upward  flight  and  to  put  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  the  execution  of  his  adventurous  projects,  to 
bring  him  back  to  moderation.  He  pretended  to 
beheve  that  in  arousing  the  vigilance  of  Russia  and 
Austria  in  this  matter,  he  would  be  rendering  a  signal 
service  first  of  all  to  Napoleon  and  then  to  France  and 
Europe.  Such  an  apology  reminds  one  of  the  excuses 
made  by  the  unfaithful  regimental  treasurers,  who 
having  been  punished  by  the  imperial  government, 
posed  before  the  government  of  the  Restoration  as  vic- 
tims of  the  Empire,  alleging  in  their  justification  that 
they  had  desired  to  starve  the  usurper  and  to  reduce 
him  to  impotence  by  depriving  him  of  the  sinews  of 
war.  It  was  only  much  later  that  the  Emperor  heard 
what  had  been  the  nature  of  M.  de  Talleyrand's  night- 
conversations  with  the  Emperor  Alexander  at  the 
house  of  the  Princess  of  Thurn  and  Taxis. 

It  was  during  his  stay  at  Erfurth  that  the  Emperor 
heard  of  the  Convention  of  Cintra  by  the  terms  of 
which  the  French  army  secured  its  return  to  France 
with  arms  and  baggage,  conveyed  on  English  vessels. 
The  capitulation  was  an  honourable  one.  However 
much  Napoleon  was  grieved  by  this  issue  to  the  expe- 
dition in  Portugal  he  showed  no  resentment  to  the 
Duke  d'Abrantes,  who  was  a  brave  and  loyal  soldier, 
of  rare  courage  and  entirely  devoted  to  him.  The 
French  army  landed  shortly  afterwards  at  Rochefort. 
M.  de  Bourmont,  whom  General  Junot  had  found  in 
Portugal  was  amongst  them.  The  commander-in- 
chief,  in  acknowledgement  of  the  services  which  Bour- 
mont had  rendered  in  Lisbon,  had  asked  the  Emperor 
for  a  post  for  him,  which  Napoleon  had  refused  and 
it  was  against  his  orders  that  the  old  Vendeen  leader 
had  followed  the  army. 

After  the  return  of  General  Junot,  complaints  had 


NAPOLEON    I.  545 

been  made  to  the  Emperor  about  the  too  great  exten- 
sion which  the  Duke  d'Abrantes  had  given  to  the  right 
of  conquest  in  Portugal,  amongst  other  things  the 
seizure  of  the  famous  Bible  at  the  convent  of  Belem. 
To  understand  the  value  attached  to  this  manuscript 
by  tlie  Portuguese  Government,  it  is  necessary  to  give 
a  brief  outline  of  its  history.  At  the  time  of  the  dis- 
covery of  the  route  to  East  India  by  the  Cape  of  Good  ^ 
Hope,  Vasco  da  Gama  sent  the  King  of  Portugal,  ' 
Dom  Manuel,  the  firstfruits  of  the  riches  of  these 
countries,  consisting  in  gold,  pearls,  and  diamonds. 
According  to  the  ideas  current  at  that  time  Dom 
Manuel  thought  it  his  duty  to  offer  these  first  fruits  to 
the  holy  See.  Julius  II.,  who  at  that  time  occupied  the 
pontifical  chair,  sent  back  in  return  a  manuscript  to  the 
King  of  Portugal.  This  manuscript  was  remarkable 
for  the  perfection  of  its  writing,  the  beauty  of  the 
vignettes,  picked  out  with  gold,  for  tlie  magnificence 
of  its  binding  and  of  its  clasps  which  were  enriched 
with  precious  stones.  This  manuscript  was  a  Bible 
with  a  commentary  by  Dom  Thomas  de  Lira,  in  seven 
big  quarto  volumes.  Dom  Manuel  had  just  founded 
a  convent  of  Hierony mites  at  Belem  with  all  the  mag- 
nificence which  at  that  time  was  the  lot  of  religious 
foundations.  He  had  the  work  deposited  there  and 
placed  it  under  the  prior's  care.  This  book  was  only 
shown,  even  in  quite  recent  times,  with  the  greatest 
circumspection.  The  monks  were  not  allowed  to  part 
with  it  without  an  authorization  not  only  signed  but 
entirely  written  by  the  King.  General  Junot  having 
heard  this  marvel  spoken  about,  and  using  the  right 
of  conquest,  had  it  brought  to  him,  promising  to  return 
it  in  three  days,  a  promise  which  he  forgot  to  keep. 
Events  brought  on  the  battle  of  Vimiero  and  the 
Convention  of  Cintra.  which  stipulated  for  the  evacua- 
tion of  Portugal  by  the  I'Tencii  troojjs.     The  prior  of 


546  MEMOIRS    OF 

the  Hieronymites  made  the  English  General  interfere 
to  regain  possession  of  the  Bible  and  an  officer  was 
despatched  to  General  Junot  to  ask  for  its  restitution. 
Junot  alleged  that  the  manuscript  had  beejn  sent  to 
France  by  the  aviso  which  had  informed  the  Emperor 
of  the  Convention  of  Cintra  and  expressed  his  regret 
at  not  being  able  to  restore  it.  This  Bible  accordingly 
remained  in  Paris  in  the  General's  library.  At  his 
death  his  furniture,  pictures,  and  books  were  sold. 
The  Bible  was  not  included  in  the  catalogue  and  was 
reserved  for  sale  by  private  treaty.  A  Frenchman 
who  had  lived  twelve  years  in  Portugal  and  who  had 
returned  to  France  was  charged  to  write  to  the  Em- 
peror, who  was  in  Dresden  at  the  time,  to  inform  him 
of  the  matters  related  and  to  solicit  his  interference 
for  the  restitution  of  this  Bible.  The  Emperor  wrote 
to  the  Duke  of  Rovigo,  Minister  of  Police,  on  the 
subject  who  took  the  steps  prescribed  by  Napoleon. 
The  wretched  Duke  d'Abrantes  had  died  in  conse- 
quence of  a  deplorable  mental  aberration.  Out  of 
interest  for  Madame  d'Abrantes,  left  a  widow  and 
without  fortune,  and  considering  perhaps  that  time 
had,  so  to  speak,  legitimized  the  possession  of  a  booty 
taken  in  war,  the  Emperor  did  not  insist  on  the  order 
of  restitution  which  he  had  given.  He  was,  moreover, 
much  too  busy  to  pay  any  serious  attention  to  this 
matter  and  it  remained  as  it  stood.  The  Restoration 
came.  Marquis  de  Palmella,  Portuguese  ambassador 
to  Paris,  and  Count  de  Funchal,  Portuguese  ambas- 
sador to  Rome,  took  steps  for  the  restitution  of  the 
precious  manuscript.  Count  Funchal  asked  for  an 
audience  with  King  Louis  XVIII.  and  obtained  an 
order  from  him,  which  obliged  the  Duchess  d'Abrantes 
to  restore  the  Bible.  But,  in  view  of  Madame 
d'Abrantes's  precarious  position,  the  King  insisted  that 
a  sum  of  eighty  thousand  francs,  the  sum  at  which 


NAPOLEON    I.  547 

the  Bible  had  been  estimated,  should  be  paid  to  the 
Duchess.  Thanks  to  this  arrangement,  the  Bible,  with 
the  commentary  of  Dom  Thomas  de  Lira,  found  its 
way  back  to  the  Hieronymite  convent,  where  it  is  to 
this  day.  The  poor  prior  of  the  monastery  had  been 
exiled  for  three  years  for  having  allowed  himself  to 
be  deprived  of  this  manuscript,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  he  had  been  quite  powerless  to  oppose  it. 

On  his  return  to  Erfurth,  the  Emperor  only  spent 
ten  days  at  St.  Cloud.  He  heard  there  of  the  landing 
in  Spain  of  the  army  of  the  Marquis  de  Romana, 
the  evasion  of  which  from  the  Danish  islands  where 
it  had  been  in  cantonment,  had  been  announced  to  him 
in  the  preceding  month  of  August.  This  event  was 
calculated  to  increase  the  excitement  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Peninsula  and  to  fortify  the  spirit  of  resistance 
which  animated  them.  The  preceding  Spanish  Gov- 
ernment, directed  by  the  Prince  de  la  Paix — had  on 
the  demand  of  the  Emperor  added  a  corps  of  fifteen 
thousand  men  to  the  French  army  in  atonement  for 
his  hostile  proclamation  of  October  3rd,  1806,  about 
which  we  spoke  in  its  place.  This  corps,  the  command 
of  which  had  been  confided  to  the  Marquis  de  la 
Romana,  was  intended  for  the  North  of  Germany. 
Placed  under  the  orders  of  the  Prince  of  Ponte-Corvo 
— Bernadotte — it  was  charged  with  the  defence  of  the 
island  of  Fionia.  The  Spanish  general,  hearing  of 
what  had  happened  at  Bayonne,  conceived  the  design 
of  leading  his  troops  back  to  Spain  and  depriving 
the  French  army  of  their  assistance,  to  add  them  as 
auxiliaries  to  the  insurrection.  With  this  purpose  in 
view  he  entered  into  communication  witli  the  English 
Admiral  Keates,  who  was  in  command  in  the  Baltic, 
by  the  intermediary  of  a  Spanish  priest  of  Scotch 
origin  whose  name  was  Robertson.  1  le  then  set  to 
E— Memoirs  ^  "I-  ^ 


548  MEMOIRS    OF 

work  to  collect  his  scattered  troops,  by  means  of 
schemes  plotted  with  great  dissimulation,  on  the 
points  on  the  coast  where  the  boats  of  the  English 
transport  were  ready  to  receive  them.  La  Romana 
had  been  able  to  inspire  Bernadotte  with  such  confi- 
dence that  Spanish  companies  formed  part  of  the 
bodyguard  of  the  commander-in-chief.  Thanks  to 
orders  supposed  to  emanate  from  the  staff,  he  had  been 
able  to  have  marches  executed  by  his  troops,  on  the 
longest  days  in  the  year,  which  should  have  aroused 
suspicion.  Detachments  dispersed  in  the  island  of 
Fionia  and  in  Jutland  were  in  this  way  able  to  reach 
the  island  of  Langeland  which  had  been  fixed  upon  as 
a  general  meeting  place,  without  attracting  attention. 
The  Spanish  troops  who  were  nearest  to  Copenhagen, 
and  who  had  committed  certain  acts  of  violence  were 
disarmed  by  the  Danes.  All  the  others  were  assembled 
within  three  days  and  embarked.  During  their  pas- 
sage these  troops  put  into  port  in  England  where  the 
English  government  armed  and  equipped  them  at  the 
public  cost.  After  a  long  sea-voyage,  General  La 
Romana  landed  in  the  first  days  of  October,  at  San- 
tander,  with  nine  thousand  men  who  went  to  swell 
General  Blake's  army  in  Biscay. 

The  Emperor  left  on  October  29th  to  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  armies  in  Spain,  to  which  several 
corps  coming  from  Germany  had  been  added.  He 
only  passed  the  night  at  Marrac  and  rode  thence  to 
Vittoria  where  King  Joseph  was  staying.  He  spent 
five  days  in  this  town  to  give  the  soldiers  time  to  come 
up,  and  devoted  his  attention  to  ensuring  his  com- 
munications and  ordering  military  arrangements  in 
Biscay,  Navarre,  and  Aragon.  I  left  Bayonne  on  the 
morrow  and  rode  at  full  speed  to  Vittoria  with  M. 
Yvan,  the  Emperor's  surgeon  in  ordinary,  leaving  my 
carriage  behind  me.     We  were  surprised  to  find  at 


NAPOLEON    I.  549 

Vittoria  the  old  foot  grenadiers  of  the  guard,  who  had 
left  Bayonne  the  day  before  and  who  had  marched 
nearly  twenty-five  leagues  in  two  days,  laden  like 
Roman  soldiers.  At  Oyarsun  the  postmaster  and  his 
wife  did  us  the  excellent  turn  of  keeping  us  back  till 
daybreak,  because  armed  peasants  had  been  seen  on 
the  roads.  At  a  distance  of  a  mile  from  Oyarsun,  as 
it  happened,  we  found  a  French  officer,  who  had  been 
murdered,  lying  by  the  wayside.  Mondragon,  through 
which  we  passed  had  a  festive  air  which  quite  re- 
assured us.  However,  at  different  points  along  our 
route  we  came  across  young  conscripts,  placed  on 
solitary  sentry  duty,  who  were  in  a  very  nervous  state 
of  mind.  At  last  we  succeeded  in  reaching  Vittoria 
safely.  I  had  had  some  small  pistols  sent  on  to  me 
from  Paris  and  carried  them  on  me.  When  the 
Emperor  heard  of  this  excess  of  prudence,  he  told  me 
that  I  had  acted  wrongly  as  it  would  make  people 
think  that  lie  was  in  personal  danger.  But  when  I 
had  told  him  about  our  journey,  he  did  not  blame  my 
precaution  any  longer.  It  was,  liowever,  only  neces- 
sary in  the  case  of  isolated  individuals,  for  the  safety 
of  the  Emperor  and  of  his  household  was  never  for 
a  moment  in  danger. 

On  November  nth  the  Emperor  was  at  Burgos, 
after  having  fought  an  engagement  on  the  outskirts 
of  this  town  at  which  flags  were  captured  which  Napo- 
leon sent  to  the  Legislative  body.  The  public  estab- 
lishments, the  churches  of  this  unhappy  town  were 
all  given  up  to  pillage.  The  bivouac  fire,  established 
in  the  bishop's  palace,  where  the  Emperor  lived,  was 
stoked  with  broken  bits  of  furniture.  The  officers 
warmed  themselves  at  this,  sitting  round  it  on  gilded 
armchairs.  The  abbey,  which  contained  the  tombs  of 
the  Cid  and  of  Chimcnes,  received  numerous  visitors. 
It  was  situated  outside  Burgos.    M.  Denon  with  whom 


550  MEMOIRS   OF 

I  went  there  brought  back  with  him  one  of  Chimenes's 
teeth  which  he  placed  in  a  rehquary  in  which  he  had 
collected  together  fragments  of  the  mortal  remains  of 
many  celebrated  persons. 

The  Emperor  spent  ten  or  twelve  days  at  Burgos. 
He  proceeded  thence  in  the  direction  of  Madrid  by 
the  Aranda  route.  The  beautiful  Castle  of  Lerma, 
which  was  on  our  way,  contained  an  enormous 
quantity  of  excellent  wine  in  its  cellars.  This  wine 
was  given  up  to  the  soldiers.  They  used  it  for  making 
cakes  which  they  baked  under  the  warm  ashes  of  their 
bivouac-fires.  Without  any  exaggeration,  the  air  was 
scented  with  the  smell  of  this  wine  poured  about  with 
that  careless  prodigality  which  is  so  characteristic  of 
the  soldier. 

The  defile  of  Somo-Sierra  fortified  by  the  Spaniards 
who  deluded  themselves  with  the  hope  of  holding  the 
French  army  in  check  and  closing  the  road  to  Madrid, 
a  defile  defended  by  ten  thousand  men  and  fifteen 
pieces  of  cannon,  was  taken  by  storm  by  a  brave 
charge  of  the  Polish  light  cavalry  of  the  guard,  under 
the  command  of  General  Montbrun.  Philip  de  Segur 
was  dangerously  wounded  in  this  engagement.  No 
further  obstacle  impeding  the  marching  of  the  army, 
it  advanced  rapidly  on  Madrid.  The  Emperor  pre- 
sented himself  before  the  walls  of  this  city  on  Decem- 
ber 2nd,  the  fourth  anniversary  of  his  coronation  and 
the  third  of  the  battle  of  Austerlitz.  King  Joseph  had 
joined  him  the  evening  before  at  head-quarters. 

Madrid  was  in  the  hands  of  a  fanatical  mob.  A 
staff-officer  who  had  been  sent  in  to  parley,  was 
attacked  in  the  interior  of  the  town  by  a  gang  of 
murderers  and  narrowly  escaped  being  killed.  The 
Emperor  could  have  taken  this  capital  by  storrn,  as  it 
was  not  fortified,  but  he  wished  to  spare  the  inhabi- 
tants the  horrors  of  an  attack.     He  parleyed  for  two 


NAPOLEON    I.  551 

days  with  the  furies  who  were  encouraged  by  his 
humanity.  Some  Spanish  prisoners  were  brought  to 
the  bivouac  at  which  I  was,  amongst  whom  were  some 
young  monks  dressed  in  long  frockcoats  buttoned  up 
to  the  chin,  and  wearing  swordbeUs  without  any  sword. 
They  wanted  to  pass  themselves  off  as  officers  and 
affected  a  military  air.  Then  liiey  were  ordered  to  go 
through  their  drill  and  tried  to  do  so,  but  did  it  like 
men  who  had  never  handled  any  weapons.  They 
were  thereupon  asked  to  what  regiments  they  be- 
longed. At  last  when  we  had  sufficiently  enjoyed 
their  embarrassment,  their  hats  were  taken  off  and  the 
fresh  shaven  tonsures  were  exposed,  which  to  their 
great  confusion  betrayed  the  disguise  which  they  had 
assumed. 

The  occupation  of  Buen  Retiro,  a  royal  castle  situ- 
ated on  a  height,  at  one  of  the  gates  of  Madrid,  where 
certain  defence  works  had  been  executed,  put  it  in 
Napoleon's  power  to  annihilate  the  city.  He,  how- 
ever, decided  to  try  the  effects  of  a  fresh  summons. 
The  junta  of  the  defence  answered  by  sending  Captain 
General  Thomas  de  Morla,  one  of  the  generals  who 
had  treated  the  soldiers  who  had  capitulated  at  Bailen 
with  such  inhumanity.  He  came  to  ask  that  the 
French  troops  might  be  withdrawn  so  as  to  give  the 
junta  time  to  calm  the  popular  effervescence.  But 
the  Emperor  received  him  with  a  severity  which  fright- 
ened him.  Napoleon  addressed  him  with  such  crush- 
ing and  just  reproaches  that  he  withdrew  in  terror 
without  effecting  his  mission.  The  ultimatum  had 
been  signified  to  him  that  unless  the  city  were  sur- 
rendered witiiin  twelve  hours,  he  and  his  garrison 
would  be  shot. 

The  Emperor  gave  orders  for  a  general  disarming. 
The  authorities  of  the  town  came  to  make  their  sub- 
mission and  to  acknowledge  King  Joseph,  who  refused 


552  MEMOIRS    OF 

to  receive  the  Spanish  grandees  who  had  remained  in 
Madrid.  Those  who  were  most  compromised  had 
followed  the  Spanish  troops  who  had  left  the  capital 
by  gates  which  were  not  yet  occupied  by  us.  Others 
were  arrested  and  sent  to  France,  Madrid  was  occu- 
pied in  a  military  fashion  and  the  King  did  not  inhabit 
the  palace.  He  went  and  established  himself  at  the 
Prado,  a  royal  castle  situated  at  about  one  league  from 
the  capital.  The  Emperor  also  refused  to  live  in 
Madrid  and  took  up  his  quarters  at  Chamartin,  a 
country  house  situated  at  about  a  league's  distance 
from  Madrid,  the  property  of  the  Duke  de  I'lnfantado. 
Chamartin  is  a  small  castle  without  dependencies, 
used  as  a  country-box  during  the  fine  weather.  The 
cold  was  rather  severe  when  the  Emperor  came  to 
live  here,  and  there  were  no  fireplaces  in  any  of  the 
rooms.  The  only  heating-apparatus  was  some 
braseros,  which  were  great  copper  basins  filled  with 
live  coals  which  were  placed  in  the  centre  of  the 
rooms.  Temporary  fireplaces  were  fitted  up  in  his 
bedroom  and  study,  thanks  to  which  the  house  was 
inhabitable  during  the  fortnight  he  remained  there. 
I  may  say,  in  passing,  that  as  a  rule  he  did  not  feel  the 
cold,  though  he  suffered  from  the  heat.  In  spite  of 
this  he  never  broke  his  custom,  even  in  the  hottest 
weather,  of  wearing  his  uniform  buttoned  right  up  to 
his  neck. 

During  his  stay  at  Chamartin,  Napoleon  occupied 
himself  with  making  arrangements  for  the  complete 
subjection  of  Spain.  He  issued  several  laws  endow- 
ing the  country  with  the  institutions  which  it  lacked. 
Each  day  moreover  he  reviewed  his  troops  under  the 
walls  of  Madrid. 

Some  curious  letters  from  Queen  Caroline  of  Naples 
to  her  daughter,  the  Princess  of  the  Asturias,  were 


NAPOLEON    I.  553 

found  at  Chamartin.  These  letters  had  been  left  be- 
hind, by  forget  fulness,  in  a  drawer. 

Some  were  written  in  secret  ink,  and  dated  in  Janu- 
ary, 1806.  It  was  at  the  time  that  the  French  were 
about  to  enter  into  Naples.  The  bitterness  with  which 
the  unhappy  Queen  spoke  of  her  allies,  the  English, 
whom  she  accused  of  pertidy  and  cowardice — sucli 
were  her  expressions — prompted  Napoleon  to  publish 
these  letters.  This  correspondence,  moreover,  did  not 
establish  that  any  great  union  existed  between  the 
royal  houses  of  Spain  and  Naples,  though  naturally 
enough  it  revealed  the  existence  of  strong  hatred 
against  the  French.  There  was  also  found  a  small 
almanack  of  the  Court  of  Naples  for  the  year  1802, 
which  was  the  year  of  the  marriage  of  the  Prince  of 
the  Asturias  with  the  Princess  of  Naples,  a  marriage 
which  had  been  celebrated  at  Barcelona  with  great 
magnificence.  This  almanack,  which  was  probably  a 
souvenir  of  the  aforesaid  royal  marriage  was  orna- 
mented with  twelve  pretty  water-colour  paintings  rep- 
resenting the  town  of  Naples,  the  palace,  and  various 
royal  residences  in  the  Two  Sicilies,  one  painting  to 
each  month. 

The  Emperor's  stay  at  Chamartin  was  marked  by 
an  act  of  severity  and  by  an  act  of  clemency.  An 
order  of  the  day  had  commanded  that  the  strictest 
discipline  should  be  observed — till  then  it  had  been 
too  much  neglected — and  threatened  the  delinquents 
with  all  the  rigours  of  military  law.  Two  light  infan- 
try soldiers  of  the  imperial  guard,  found  guilty  of 
pillage,  theft,  and  odious  violences  committed  on  the 
persons  of  inhabitants  of  Madrid,  were  condemned  to 
be  shot  in  sight  of  the  city.  The  Emperor  judging 
their  execution  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  mili- 
tary discipline,  refused  to  pardon  these  soldiers 
ahhough   their  previous  good  conduct   was  urged   in 


554  MEMOIRS    OF 

their  favour.  I  cannot  refrain  in  connection  with 
this  act  of  severe  justice  to  rebut  the  accusation 
brought  against  Napoleon  of  having  tolerated  disorder 
in  his  armies,  by  a  kind  of  tacit  understanding  between 
himself  and  his  soldiers,  who,  resembling  in  this  the 
undisciplined  hordes  of  the  middle  ages,  were  said  to 
serve  their  chief  only  because  of  his  tolerance  of  their 
excesses.  Those  who  have  followed  the  imperial 
armies  know  with  what  care  Napoleon  checked  all 
pillage.  If  he  heard  that  marauders  were  behaving 
in  a  disorderly  manner  behind  his  rear-guard,  he  used 
to  order  columns  to  be  formed  to  pursue  them,  and 
rendered  the  commanding  officers  in  the  forts  and  at 
the  points  of  defence  of  his  communications,  responsi- 
ble for  their  crimes.  His  orders  of  the  day  enjoined 
the  greatest  respect  for  property  and  scathed  those 
who  tolerated  disorder.  Vienna,  Berlin,  Madrid  and 
other  cities  witnessed  the  condemnation  and  execu- 
tion of  soldiers  belonging  as  well  to  the  imperial 
guard  as  to  other  army  corps,  when  these  soldiers 
had  been  found  guilty  of  pillage. 

The  Marquis  of  St.  Simon,  a  Frenchman  in  Spanish 
service,  had  been  taken  sword  in  hand,  in  command 
of  a  troop  of  rebels  and  had  been  sentenced  to  death 
by  court-martial.  Napoleon  pardoned  him.  The 
daughter  of  this  emigre,  protected  by  some  officers  of 
the  imperial  household,  who  had  been  touched  by 
her  filial  piety,  and  especially  by  Captain  Duchand, 
orderly  on  service,  was  placed  on  the  Emperor's 
passage  and  threw  herself  at  his  feet  imploring  her 
father's  pardon.  Napoleon  could  not  refuse  it  at  the 
sight  of  Mile,  de  St.  Simon's  tears.  He,  moreover, 
considered  that  the  lesson  was  a  sufficient  one. 

The  Emperor  had  been  a  fortnight  at  Chamartin, 
awaiting  news  of  the  English  army  with  great  impa- 
tience when  he  at  last  heard  that  it  had  entered  Spain 


NAPOLEON    I.  555 

from  Portugal,  by  Salamanca,  and  that  it  was  march- 
ing on  V'alladoHd.  Napoleon  went  off  to  meet  it. 
He  crossed  the  Guadarrama,  which  is  a  mountain  sit- 
uated to  the  North-East  of  Madrid.  We  were  over- 
taken whilst  crossing  this  mountain  by  a  snowstorm 
which  threatened  to  swallow  us  up,  and  by  icy  cold 
which  destroyed  some  of  our  soldiers.  In  this  cross- 
ing our  army  had  a  foretaste  of  the  sufferings  which 
we  were  to  undergo,  later,  at  the  time  of  the  terrible 
retreat  from  Moscow.  It  was  impossible  to  remain 
on  horseback.  The  Emperor  was  obliged  to  alight 
and  order  his  light  cavalry  guards  to  march  on  foot, 
he  in  the  midst  of  them,  thus  tracking  out  the  road 
for  the  infantry  which  was  coming  on  behind.  On 
arriving  at  the  bottom  of  the  mountain  he  halted  to 
assemble  all  his  troops.  Impatient  as  the  Emperor 
was  to  get  up  with  the  English  army,  which  kept  re- 
treating before  him,  he  was  forced  to  spend  two  days 
at  Tordesillas.  awaiting  the  arrival  of  his  regiments. 
He  took  up  his  quarters  in  a  building  attached  to  the 
Convent  of  Ste.  Claire,  which  was  reserved  for  the 
bishop's  lodging,  when  coming  on  a  pastoral  visit. 

What  follows  about  Napoleon's  stay  in  this  con- 
vent, was  told  me  by  M.  d'Hedouville,  who  was  act- 
ing as  orderly  to  the  Emperor  in  Spain  and  as  inter- 
preter. 

Whilst  at  dinner  Napoleon  ordered  this  officer  to 
bring  the  Lady  Superior  of  the  convent  to  him.  At 
first  she  refused  to  follow  M.  d'Hedouville,  saying 
that  she  was  not  allowed  to  go  out  of  Iwunds  and  could 
not  pass  beyond  the  gates  of  the  cloister.  She  gave 
way  when  it  was  pointed  out  to  her  that  the  commands 
of  a  sovereign  were  a  dispensation.  Hesitatingly  she 
took  her  conductor's  arm.  On  reaching  the  wicket, 
she  trembled  so  that  ."^he  conld  not  advance  and  M. 
d'Hedouville  had  to  hold  her  up.     She  told  him  that 


556  MEMOIRS   OF 

it  was  more  than  sixty  years  since  she  had  entered 
this  convent,  being  at  that  time  six  years  of  age,  and 
that  since  then  she  had  never  been  outside  its  gates. 
On  being  introduced  into  the  Emperor's  presence,  her 
first  impulse  was  to  kneel  down  before  him.  On  a 
sign  from  him  M.  d'Hedouville  held  her  back.  The 
plate  and  decorations  of  the  Emperor's  orders  were 
what  most  struck  this  poor  and  simple  nun  and  she 
could  not  refrain  from  stretching  out  her  hand  to 
touch  them.  M.  d'Hedouville  checked  her  and  pointed 
out  to  her  how  indiscreet  was  such  curiosity.  The 
Emperor  asked  her  several  questions.  He  first  of  all 
asked  her  if  she  were  the  abbess  of  the  convent.  She 
said  that  she  only  held  the  second  place,  and  added : 
*'  Luckily  for  me."  Napoleon  asked  her  why  she  said 
that  and  she  answered  that  she  preferred  to  obey  than 
to  command,  that  it  was  more  meritorious,  and  that 
her  conscience  was  more  at  ease.  The  Emperor  could 
not  repress  a  smile  at  the  ingenuousness  of  this  an- 
swer. He  then  asked  her  if  Jane  the  Mad,  mother  of 
Charles  V.,  who  had  died  at  Tordesillas,  was  buried 
in  the  convent.  She  reflected  for  a  moment  and  in 
the  end  answered  that  there  were  princes  and  queens 
buried  in  the  vaults,  but  that  she  did  not  know  their 
names.  Asked  whether  she  knew  anything  about  the 
history  of  Spain,  she  said  that  she  knew  nothing  but 
her  prayerbooks  and  the  passages  of  the  Bible  which 
her  confessor  allowed  her  to  read.  The  Emperor  who 
found  that  in  spite  of  her  age,  her  eyes  were  bright, 
asked  her  if  she  had  been  pretty.  She  answered 
naively,  that  she  thought  so,  but  that  she  had  never 
had  a  looking-glass  and  that  nobody  had  ever  told  her 
so.  The  conversation  continued  in  this  way  for  some 
time  and  the  nun's  answers  betokened  a  natural  wit. 
Napoleon,  pleased  with  her  innocence  and  her  ingenu- 
ousness, told  her  that  he  wished  to  grant  her  a  favour 


NAPOLEON    I.  557 

and  that  she  might  ask  him  for  anything  she  chose. 
Before  answering  the  nun  asked  if  anything  that  she 
asked  for  would  be  granted  to  her.  On  being  told 
that  the  Emperor  did  not  promise  in  vain,  she  asked 
for  the  pardon  of  the  director  of  the  convent,  who 
had  been  taken  at  the  head  of  an  armed  gang  with  his 
crucifix  in  his  iiand.  Xapoleon  granted  it.  as  he 
had  promised,  but  added  that  this  monk  should  be 
careful  not  to  commit  such  a  mistake  again  as  it  would 
be  out  of  his  power  to  pardon  him  a  second  time. 
The  nun  promised  that  she  would  see  that  he  should 
not  leave  the  convent  and  answered  for  him.  The 
Emperor  tlien  said  that  he  had  granted  a  favour,  on 
her  account,  to  somebody  who  was  not  connected  with 
her  family,  but  that  it  was  for  her  personally  that  he 
wished  to  do  something.  As  she  hesitated  about  an- 
swering, he  had  her  asked  if  she  had  any  relations. 
She  answered  that  she  had  a  brother  in  Holy  Orders. 
"Would  she  like  me  to  make  a  bishop  of  him?"  said 
Napoleon.  She  knelt  down  to  thank  him  for  this  un- 
expected favour,  which,  however,  as  it  happened,  could 
not  be  carried  out.  the  monk  in  question  being  shut 
up  in  Saragossa.  Before  the  prioress  returned  to  the 
convent,  the  Emperor  had  her  served  with  some  cofifee. 
She  did  not  like  it.  had  never  tasted  coffee  and  was 
accustomed  to  chocolate  alone.  The  poor  nun,  after 
having  thanked  the  Emperor  again  for  the  kindness 
with  which  he  had  received  her  and  having  kissed  his 
hand,  was  reconducted  by  M.  d'Hedouville  to  her 
cloister,  touched   and   grateful. 

Before  the  Emperor  left  Tordesillas,  M.  d'Hedou- 
ville came  to  me  in  his  name  to  ask  me  for  a  hundred 
napoleons  to  give  to  the  lady  superior  of  the  convent. 
He  was  received  with  curiosity  and  kindness  by  the 
sisters  to  whom  the  Lady  Superior  had  described  her 
visit.     They  all  ran  up  to  see  him.  louciicd  his  hand 


558  MEMOIRS    OF 

and  examined  him  with  all  the  curiosity  of  islanders 
seeing  Europeans  for  the  first  time.  When  M.  d'He- 
douville  handed  the  prioress  the  hundred  napoleons, 
she  refused  them,  saying  that  if  she  were  to  take  them, 
the  convent  would  lose  the  small  merit  of  its  hospital- 
ity. On  being  told,  as  she  frequently  had  been  told 
before  during  her  visit,  that  she  was  not  free  to  re- 
fuse a  sovereign's  gift,  she  consented  to  accept  it,  and 
gave  orders  that  this  sum  should  be  placed  in  the 
treasury  of  the  chapter  and  only  be  used  on  extraor- 
dinary occasions,  so  that  the  proof  of  the  Emperor's 
goodwill  might  be  preserved  as  long  as  possible. 

The  nun  having  asked  whether  these  pieces  of  gold 
were  stamped  with  the  Emperor's  likeness,  M.  d'He- 
douville  broke  open  the  paper  roll  and  took  out  some 
of  the  coins  to  show  to  her.  She  seized  them  hastily 
and  examined  them  with  interest,  assuring  her  com- 
panions who  were  watching  her  eagerly  that  she  found 
the  Emperor's  portrait  very  like  him. 

On  returning  to  Napoleon,  M.  d'Hedouville  related 
what  had  passed.  The  Emperor  had  taken  a  real  in- 
terest in  the  nun's  visit.  He  found  her  full  of  tact. 
He  regretted  that  instead  of  cultivating  her  natural 
talents,  she  had  been  subjected  at  so  early  an  age  to 
the  education  of  the  convent,  the  effect  of  which  had 
been  to  choke  these  natural  tendencies.  And,  neverthe- 
less, in  spite  of  the  state  of  ignorance  in  which  she  had 
vegetated,  in  spite  of  the  horror  of  the  world  with 
which  this  simple  and  credulous  mind  had  been  in- 
spired, in  spite  of  her  minute  religious  practices,  which 
left  no  freedom  of  exercise  to  the  judgment,  the  gen- 
tleness and  sweetness  of  her  temper  had  not  been 
changed  and  her  good  natural  disposition  had  resisted 
these  lethargic  influences.  "After  all,"  he  added,  "this 
good  soul  is  happy  in  her  present  situation.  K  con- 
vents have  often  their  victims,  they  have  also  consoled 


NAPOLEON    I.  559 

many."  Napoleon  spoke  of  the  relative  utility  of  con- 
vents and  dwelt  at  length  on  the  subject.  It  could  be 
seen  that  he  had  freciuently  thought  over  these  refuges 
of  meditation  and  prayer.  He  said  that  there  were 
circumstances  where  convent  life  might  have  its  ad- 
vantages, that  the  cloisters  must  often  be  very  well 
suited  to  tender  minds,  resigned  and  weary  of  the 
world,  that  these  retreats  might  be  opened  with  ad- 
vantage, for  example,  to  the  widows  of  colonels  and 
general  officers,  who  losing  by  the  death  of  their  hus- 
bands the  income  which  they  had  enjoyed  during  their 
lifetime,  might  combine  their  pensions  and  other  re- 
sources together  so  as  to  be  able  to  procure  a  carriage 
and  other  comforts,  which  singly  they  would  not  be  able 
to  afford ;  that  in  his  opinion  perpetual  vows  should 
be  forbidden,  and  that  in  any  case  nobody  should  be 
admitted  under  the  age  of  forty,  and  so  on. 

Thus  the  first  impulse  of  his  ardent  and  dreamy 
soul  bore  him  towards  benevolent  ideas,  which  were 
matured  and  modified  by  time  and  by  reflection,  or 
abandoned  when  experience  showed  that  they  would 
be  dangerous  in  practice. 

During  his  march  on  Benavent,  whilst  close  upon 
the  heels  of  the  English  army  and  almost  within  reach 
of  it,  Napoleon  received  a  courier  bearing  the  port- 
folio in  which  the  director  of  the  Post-office  used  to 
place  the  letters  addressed  to  the  Emperor.  As  I  had 
the  key  of  this  portfolio  and  was  at  that  time  a  league 
behind,  Napoleon  was  too  impatient  to  await  me.  He 
tore  the  portfolio  open  and  took  out  his  despatches. 
There  were  amongst  them  letters  from  Champagny, 
the  Minister  of  Exterior  Relations,  and  one  from  the 
King  of  Bavaria  to  the  Prince  Neufchatel  (Berthier). 
These  letters  announced  that  Austria  was  arming  her 
landwehr,  that  the  Bavarian  Stales  were  threatened 


56o  MEMOIRS    OF 

with  an  invasion,  that  the  Austrian  troops  were  ma- 
noeuvring to  cross  the  Inn  and  were  calhng  the  peoples 
of  Germany  to  insurrection.  This  news  did  not  sur- 
prise the  Emperor.  His  eye  had  followed  Austria's 
plots  and  he  was  expecting  an  early  outbreak  of  hos- 
tilities, but  he  was  prepared  to  meet  them. 

Nor  did  he  ignore  the  intrigues  which  were  in  prog- 
ress in  Paris,  as  will  be  seen  presently  from  the  violent 
reproaches  which  he  addressed  to  Prince  de  Benevent. 
He  decided  accordingly  to  hasten  his  return  to  France. 
He  pushed  on  as  far  as  Astorga,  and  there  reviewed 
his  troops  as  they  came  up.  He  then  dictated  his  in- 
structions for  Marshal  Soult  whom  he  charged  with 
the  pursuit  of  the  English  army  on  retreat.  Napoleon 
then  returned  to  Benavent,  which  he  left  hastily  for 
Valladolid.  In  this  city  he  received  a  deputation  of 
the  principal  authorities  and  the  most  important  in- 
habitants of  Madrid.  This  deputation  came  to  implore 
him,  with  the  strongest  protestations  of  loyalty  to  the 
new  king,  to  put  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  return 
of  King  Joseph  into  the  capital.  The  Emperor,  having 
spoken  to  them  with  severe  frankness  and  having  called 
upon  their  loyalty,  promised  to  write  to  the  king  to 
advise  him  to  act  in  accordance  with  their  wishes. 
He  spent  a  week  in  Valladolid,  awaiting  the  news  of 
his  brother's  return  to  Madrid  and  attending  to  the 
dispatch  of  the  most  urgent  orders. 

Marshal  Lannes,  recovering  from  a  long  illness,  had 
come  to  meet  the  Emperor  in  Spain  and  had  followed 
the  head-quarters  for  some  days.  As  he  was  still  un- 
able to  mount  on  horseback,  the  Emperor  had  placed 
his  own  carriage,  which  he  did  not  use,  at  the  Marshal's 
disposal.  I  accompanied  the  Marshal  in  this  car- 
riage. Before  Napoleon  left  Valladolid,  Marshal  Lan- 
nes, who  felt  himself  able  to  undertake  more  active 
service,  was  sent  by  the  Emperor,  who  wanted  to  spare 


NAPOLEON    I.  561 

his  strength,  to  take  the  superior  command  of  the  siege 
of  Saragossa. 

During  our  stay  at  Valladolid,  I  had  the  curiosity 
to  pay  a  visit  to  the  Dominican  monastery  which  the 
Emperor  had  ordered  to  be  suppressed  because  a 
French  officer  had  been  murdered  there.  In  this  refuge, 
consecrated  to  the  patron  of  the  Inquisition,  I  came 
across  what  I  had  scarcely  expected  to  find  there. 
Amongst  the  portraits  of  Saints  which  covered  the 
walls  of  the  cloister,  I  saw  a  picture,  representing  St. 
Napoleon,  the  head  crowned  with  an  aureole  and 
wearing  the  costume  of  a  Roman  knight.  In  one  cor- 
ner of  the  picture  was  a  brief  description  in  Spanish. 

The  Emperor  during  this  short  campaign  of  two 
months  and  a  half,  had  reoccupied  Madrid  and  the 
neighbouring  provinces,  and  had  dispersed  like  dust 
the  Spanish  troops  which  had  opposed  his  passage. 
These  bands,  after  being  defeated  only  went  off  to 
reassemble  again  thirty  leagues  away.  At  the  same 
time  these  successes  would  have  effaced  the  disastrous 
impression  produced  on  the  Spaniards  by  the  catas- 
trophe at  Bailen.  if  we  had  been  able  to  follow  them 
up.  But  their  fruit  was  lost  by  Napoleon  being  forced 
to  abandon  Spain  in  great  haste,  to  march  against  the 
Austrians  who  were  invading  Bavaria,  without  being 
able  to  return. 

The  Emperor  left  Valladolid  for  Burgos  and  rode 
this  distance  at  full  speed  in  some  hours,  by  means 
of  relays  of  horses  which  had  been  prepared  in  ad- 
vance. He  only  stopped  two  hours  at  Burgos  and  rode 
on  to  Bayotme  at  such  speed  that  his  household  could 
not  follow  him.  He  traversed  the  road  from  Bayonne 
to  Paris  with  the  same  speed  and  on  January  23rd 
was  at  the  Tuileries. 

On  arriving  at  Paris.  Napoleon  \vith(Mit  losing  a 
moment,    applied    himself   to   making   the   necessary 


562  MEMOIRS    OF 

arrangements  to  be  in  readiness  to  meet  the  attack 
with  which  he  was  menaced.     He  gave  orders  that  his 
corps  and  the  contingents  from  the  Confederation  of 
the  Rhine  should  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  begin 
the  campaign.     He  sent  Marshal  Berthier  off,  to  as- 
semble the  confederate  troops  on  the  Danube  and  to 
assume  the  command  of  the  army  for  the  time  being. 
A  privy  council  was  summoned  a  few  days  after 
his  return  to   Paris.     The  Emperor  who  had  well- 
founded  reasons  for  displeasure  with  Prince  de  Bene- 
vent  restrained  his  resentment  as  long  as  the  council 
lasted.  At  last  the  dam  burst.  Napoleon  who  grew  hot- 
ter and  hotter  as  he  spoke,  under  the  influence  of  his 
indignation,  lost  control  of  his  anger  which  was  only 
awaiting  the  opportunity  to  break  forth.    He  spoke  to 
Prince  de  Benevent  with  the  greatest  harshness.  Thanks 
to  his  various  sources  of  information  the  Emperor  had 
heard  things  about  M.  de  Talleyrand  which  perhaps 
justified  the  violent  scene  which  was  witnessed  by  cer- 
tain members  of  the  privy  council.     In  the  conversa- 
tions which  Prince  de  Benevent  had  had,  on  various 
occasions,  with  Napoleon,  concerning  Spanish  affairs, 
I  had  heard  him  quote  the  example  of  the  Jesuits  Mala- 
grida  and  Alexander,  and  after  having  insisted  on  the 
necessity  of  the  Emperor's  presence  in  Spain,  speak  of 
the  precautions  which  he  would  have  to  take  to  defend 
himself  against  the  poison  or  the  dagger  of  some  fana- 
tical monk.    Napoleon  felt  quite  sure  that  Prince  de 
Benevent,  foreseeing  the  possibility  either  of  such  an 
event  or  of  his  death  by  means  of  the  bullet  of  a  guer- 
rillo,  which  might  strike  him  down  on  his  triumphant 
march,  had  thought  of  the  formation  of  a  government 
council,  the  organization  of  which,  in  case  of  need,  was 
quite  ready  to  be  carried  into  execution.   The  members 
of  the  future  government  had  already  been  named.  No- 
body knew  the  reconciliation,  which,  with  some  object 


NAPOLEOxN    I.  563 

or  other  in  view,  had  taken  place  between  Fouche  and 
Talleyrand.  Napoleon,  however,  showed  no  resent- 
ment towards  the  former.  The  confidences  and  the 
remarks  of  M.  de  Talleyrand  on  the  events  in  Spain, 
on  the  trial  of  the  Due  d'Enghien,  his  disapproval  of 
these  acts  and  his  denial  of  having  taken  any  part  in 
them  were  well  known  to  the  Emperor.  The  immo- 
bility of  the  patient,  the  impassiveness  of  his  features 
had  provoked  Napoleon's  anger  to  the  point  that  he 
forgot  his  imperial  dignity  and  threatened  Talley- 
rand with  his  fist.  "  And  you  dare,"  he  cried,  "  you 
dare  to  deny  the  part  you  took  in  the  condemnation 
of  the  Due  d'Enghien.  And  you  dare  to  say  and  pub- 
lish broadcast  that  you  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
affairs  in  Spain,"  and  so  on  and  so  on.  The  paroxysm 
of  this  indignation  having  reached  its  climax  fell 
by  its  own  excess  and  Napoleon,  tired  of  dashing 
himself  against  the  impassive  face,  gave  up.  Prince 
de  Benevent  knew  the  Emperor  well  and  knew 
that  it  was  in  his  nature,  the  more  he  had  allowed 
himself  to  be  carried  away  by  his  resentment  the 
more  to  try  and  have  it  forgotten.  Talleyrand  had 
no  real  feeling  of  dignity  and  he  deemed  it  a 
good  thing  to  pretend  to  have  forgotten  this  scene. 
There  was  a  drawing-room  at  Court  on  the  morrow, 
which  happened  to  be  a  Sunday.  One  of  the  Ministers, 
the  Duke  de  Gaete — Gaudin — who  had  been  charged 
by  the  Emperor  with  some  work  that  was  wanted  at 
once,  had  devoted  this  Sunday  to  finishing  it.  Rc- 
mem!)ering  that  Nap(jlcon  liked  his  Ministers  to  attend 
the  Court  regularly,  he  decided  that  he  might  sacrifice 
an  hour  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  duty.  The  Min- 
ister of  Finances,  accordingly,  went  to  the  Tuileries 
early,  with  the  intention  of  placing  himself  near  the 
door  by  which  the  Emperor  would  enter,  so  as  to  be 
free  to  withdraw  after  having  saluted  him  and  to  re- 


564  MEMOIRS    OF 

turn  to  his  work.  The  Minister  arrived  at  the  palace 
before  anybody  else  and  whilst  the  rooms  were  being 
Hghted.  He  wanted  to  cross  the  Throne  room  and  place 
himself  where  it  would  be  easiest  for  him  to  make  his 
escape  as  he  had  intended.  What  was  his  surprise  to 
see  Prince  de  Benevent  standing  alone  by  the  fireplace. 
A  feeling  of  shame  for  the  man  who  had  so  quickly 
forgotten  the  humiliation  which  he  had  under- 
gone the  day  before,  and  his  embarrassment  at 
finding  himself  alone  with  him  after  the  scene  which 
he  had  witnessed,  prompted  the  Duke  de  Gaete  to  go 
back  into  the  adjoining  drawing-room  where  he  spent 
his  time,  waiting  for  the  Throne  room  to  fill  up,  so  that 
he  might  cross  it  without  coming  face  to  face  with 
Prince  de  Benevent,  in  walking  up  and  down.  From 
the  position  where  he  had  placed  himself,  he  was  the 
first  to  salute  the  Emperor  and  was  free  to  retire.  His 
curiosity,  however,  detained  him.  Napoleon,  accord- 
ing to  his  custom  walked  round  the  room,  holding  his 
snuff-box,  from  which  he  frequently  helped  himself, 
standing  in  the  front  rank.  On  reaching  the  person 
who  was  standing  on  the  left  of  Prince  de  Benevent, 
who  had  remained  rooted  to  the  spot  which  he  had 
occupied  from  the  beginning,  near  the  fireplace,  the 
Emperor  addressed  some  words  to  him,  passed  by 
Talleyrand  with  averted  head  and  stopped  before  the 
person  on  the  latter's  right  hand.  On  the  following 
Sunday,  without  being  in  the  least  disconcerted,  Tal- 
leyrand placed  himself  again  in  the  Emperor's  way 
and  seeing  his  neighbour  hesitate  at  a  question  put 
to  him  by  Napoleon,  answered  for  him,  forcing  the 
Emperor's  attention. '  The  ice  having  been  broken  in 
this  way,  Talleyrand  took  every  opportunity  of  at- 
tracting Napoleon's  attention,  who  in  spite  of  the 
characteristic  attributed  to  his  countrymen,  was  unable 
to  bear  a  grudge,  because  the  feeling  of  his  own  power 


NAPOLEON    I.  565 

and  the  superiority  of  his  mind  over  petty  passions 
rendered  him  naturally  indulgent.  Prince  de  Benevent 
continued  to  frequent  the  entrees  and  was  as  assiduous 
as  in  the  days  of  his  favour.  The  Emperor,  who 
on  certain  occasions  was  as  severe  in  public  as  on  the 
other  hand  he  was  indulgent  and  patient  in  his  private 
relations,  disarmed  by  so  nmch  patience  or  shaken 
in  his  conviction  by  so  much  assurance,  never  thought 
of  forbidding  access  to  his  court  to  a  man  against 
whom  he  had  not  sufficient  proofs  to  send  him  to  trial, 
but  who  in  Napoleon's  eyes  was  sufficiently  guilty  to  be 
removed  for  ever  from  all  direction  of  affairs. 

This  anecdote,  of  which  I  heard  the  first  part  from 
members  of  the  privy  council,  who  were  present  at 
the  scene  which  Prince  de  Benevent  had  to  undergo, 
was  afterwards  told  me  in  detail  by  the  man  who  of 
all  men  was  most  worthy  of  confidence,  My  lord  Duke 
of  Gaete,  Minister  of  Finances  under  the  Empire. 
May  I  be  allowed  since  1  have  mentioned  his  name  to 
add  that  the  Emperor  had  no  more  devoted  nor  more 
skilful  Minister  than  he,  that  no  administrator  was 
purer,  more  honest  and  more  firm,  that  no  man  in  his 
private  capacity  combined  more  solid  and  more  amiable 
(|ualities,  that  he  was  good  and  affectionate,  modest 
with  dignity,  enlightened  without  display,  and  a  faith- 
ful preserver  of  those  traditions  of  urbanity  and  polite- 
ness which  unfortunately  are  becoming  rarer  and  rarer 
every  day. 

In  consequence  of  this  scene  Prince  de  Benevent 
lost  the  post  of  Grand  Chamberlain  which  was  given 
to  M.  de  Montesquiou.  This  was  the  time,  indeed,  of 
intrigues  of  every  kind.  The  faubourg  St.  Germain 
had  to  submit  to  the  exile  of  Madame  de  Chevreuse 
and  of  several  other  people  whom  the  Emperor  recalled 
later  on,  excepting  fn^ni  this  amnesty  four  or  live  of 
the  most  influential  persons  or  those  who  most  strongly 


566  MEMOIRS    OF 

persevered  in  active  opposition.  Some  of  these  persons 
had  excited  Napoleon's  anger  rather  by  their  sarcasms 
or  spiteful  remarks  than  by  their  acts.  He  might 
have  disdained  these  impotent  clamourings.  He  was 
strong  enough  to  be  able  to  do  so.  He  used  to  revenge 
himself  more  nobly  by  granting  daily  restitutions  and 
favours  to  members  of  the  old  aristocracy.  Some 
members  of  the  former  reigning  family  even  received 
pensions  from  him.  The  Duchess  of  Orleans,  the 
Duchess  of  Bourbon  and  the  Prince  of  Conti  were 
living  in  retirement  at  Figuieres  in  Spain,  enjoying  a 
moderate  pension  which  had  been  granted  to  them  by 
the  Directoire,  this  pension  being  subjected  to  all  the 
formalities  exacted  in  the  case  of  life  annuitants.  Na- 
poleon on  the  request  of  General  Canclaux,  the  warm 
and  persevering  friend  of  the  Prince  of  Conti,  in- 
creased the  pension  of  each  of  these  members  of  the 
royal  family  to  sixty  thousand  francs  which  were  paid 
to  them  at  the  residence  which  these  princes  had  chosen, 
through  the  agency  of  a  banker  who  was  in  account 
with  the  Treasury.  These  pensions  were  freed  from 
all  personal  formalities.  And  consequently  the  princes 
whose  names  we  have  mentioned,  never  failed,  as  each 
year  came  round  to  send  the  Emperor  their  wishes 
for  his  prosperity. 

The  Emperor  doubled  these  pensions  during  the 
Hundred  Days  and  authorized  the  Duchesses  of  Or- 
leans and  of  Bourbon  to  continue  residing  in  Paris  at 
the  same  time.  They  thanked  Napoleon  and  Queen 
Hortense,  who  had  interceded  for  these  princesses  with 
the  Head  of  the  State,  by  letter. 

A  Madame  Poitrine,  nurse  of  Madame  the  Duchess 
of  Angouleme  and  the  nurse  of  the  last  Dauphin, 
whose  name  I  forget,  received  pensions  from  the  im- 
perial munificence. 

In  removing  to  a  distance  from  Paris  the  malcon- 


NAPOLEON    I.  567 

tents  whose  opposition  became  troublesome  or  harm- 
ful, Napoleon  was  not,  as  has  been  said,  blindly  domi- 
nated by  a  spirit  of  despotism  which  could  brook  no 
contradiction.  Amongst  the  persons  whose  exile  was 
proposed  to  him  was  the  Duchess  de  Gesvres.  When 
the  Emperor  heard  that  this  lady  was  an  octogenarian, 
pity  silenced  all  desire  for  severity  in  his  heart,  and 
when  he  had  further  discovered  that  this  duchess  was 
a  descendant  of  Duguesclin's,  this  name  stirred  within 
him  the  French  fibre.  Not  only  did  Napoleon  forbid 
that  Madame  de  Gesvres  should  be  interfered  with  in 
any  way.  but  he  had  inquiries  made  as  to  the  needs 
of  her  old  age.  To  supplement  her  small  fortune  the 
Emperor  insisted  on  granting  to  the  descendant  of 
Duguesclin  a  pension,  the  amount  of  which  would 
allow  her  to  keep  a  carriage. 

Shortly  after  his  return  to  Paris  Napoleon  went  to 
live  at  the  Elysee,  a  beautiful  house  which  he  had 
bought  from  Prince  Alurat  when  the  latter,  as  the 
soldiers  used  to  say,  "had  been  promoted  King  of 
Naples."  Murat  received  in  exchange  certain  estates 
situated  in  the  Kingdom  of  Naples  which  the  Emperor 
had  reserved  for  himself  after  the  conquest  of  this 
country.  The  situation  of  the  Elysee  afforded  Napo- 
leon a  pleasant  and  commodious  residence.  Here  he 
was  able  to  walk  about  in  the  vast  garden  attached 
to  this  residence,  without  being  importuned,  and  could 
go  out  without  being  noticed.  He  found  himself  de- 
livered here  from  the  pompous  imprisonment  which  he 
had  to  undergo  at  the  Tuilerics.  and  only  went  to  the 
latter  palace  on  Sundays  to  hear  the  mass  or  for  cere- 
monious receptions. 

The  Emperor  had  just  settled  down  in  the  Elysee 
when  he  heard  the  news  of  the  surrender  of  Saragossa. 
The  remnants  of  the  Spanish  army  which  had  been 
defeated  at  the  battle  of  Tudcla  and  various  scattered 


568  MEMOIRS    OF 

corps,  composing  an  army  of  about  fifty  thousand 
men,  had  shut  themselves  up  in  Saragossa,  where  pro- 
tected by  the  walls  and  energetically  seconded  by  the 
armed  population,  they  defended  themselves  with  a 
fanaticism  which  was  kept  alive  by  their  leaders  and  by 
the  monks.  The  city  was  not  fortified,  but  was  sur- 
rounded with  a  thick  brick  and  granite  wall  which  had 
been  strengthened  and  covered  with  parapets.  In  the 
interior  of  the  city  the  entrance  to  each  street  was 
barricaded  and  in  a  state  of  defence.  The  garrison 
was  provided  with  numerous  store-houses  and  armed 
with  two  hundred  pieces  of  artillery.  The  commander- 
in-chief  was  General  Palafox,  who  being  shut  up  in 
Saragossa,  was  elected  captain-general.  This  man 
dear  to  the  population,  whose  exaltation  he  shared,  was 
moreover  under  the  influence  of  skilful  and  fanatical 
monks.  He  had  taken  an  oath  to  bury  himself  beneath 
the  ruins  of  the  city  rather  than  to  surrender  it  to  the 
French.  Gallows-trees,  permanently  standing,  threat- 
ened the  life  of  anybody  who  would  dare  to  speak  of 
capitulation.  Marshal  Lannes  had  come  to  take  over 
the  superior  command  of  the  siege  on  January  20th, 
three  weeks  after  the  trenches  had  been  opened.  One 
of  the  Emperor's  aides-de-camp,  General  Lacoste, 
seconded  by  Colonel  Rogniat  and  Major  Haxo,  two 
officers  who  became  famous,  commanded  the  engineer- 
ing works.  General  Lacoste  met  with  a  glorious  death 
before  Saragossa  and  was  deeply  regretted  by  Napo- 
leon. Six  days  after  his  arrival  Marshal  Lannes 
stormed  the  city  at  the  head  of  his  troops.  All  the 
outer  works  fell  into  our  hands,  and  the  result  should 
have  been  the  surrender  of  the  place,  but  the  fanaticism 
of  some  of  the  most  excited  of  the  inhabitants  inspired 
terror  and  froze  the  word,  capitulation,  on  every 
mouth.  Then  began  a  war  in  the  streets  and  houses, 
in  the  defence  of  which  the  women  and  the  monks  dis- 


NAPOLEON    I.  569 

tinguished  themselves  by  their  resistance.  The  ground 
was  fought  for  inch  by  inch,  each  house  had  to  be 
carried  by  sap  and  by  mine.  Our  soldiers,  exposed  to 
privations  and  dangers  of  every  kind,  were  disgusted 
with  this  hideous  warfare.  '1  he  wretched  inhabitants 
of  Saragossa  were  decimated  by  hunger,  disease,  and 
by  the  losses  which  resulted  from  each  encounter. 
Palafox  himself  was  dying,  but  the  monks  and  the 
clergy  governed  in  his  name.  The  taking  of  an  im- 
portant suburb,  the  destruction  of  the  convents  and 
principal  buildings,  which  were  used  as  places  of  as- 
sembly for  the  besieged  soldiers  rendered  any  contin- 
uation of  resistance  at  last  impossible.  The  council 
of  defence,  with  the  mad  object  of  continuing  the 
struggle,  had  asked  for  the  free  pass  of  ollicers  com- 
missioned to  see  whether  the  city  could  not  be  re- 
lieved. Marshal  Lannes  refused  all  conditions  and 
demanded  that  the  city  should  surrender  at  mercy. 
The  PYench  army  occupied  its  ruins  on  February  21st 
after  a  siege,  which  has  only  been  paralleled  twice  or 
thrice  in  history  and  which  had  devoured  more  than 
half  the  population.  The  Marshal  moved  to  pity, 
treated  what  remained  of  the  town  with  the  greatest 
humanity.  He  protected  the  inhabitants,  their  prop- 
erty, and  the  exercise  of  their  religion.  The  garrison 
laid  down  arms  and  was  made  prisoner  of  war. — 
Travellers'  narratives  make  mention  of  the  inestimable 
riches  of  the  cathedral  of  Our  Lady  del  Pilar.  On  the 
entry  of  the  French  into  Saragossa  there  were  found 
none  of  the  gifts  in  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones 
which  were  .said  t(;  have  been  sent  there  by  Catholic 
.sovereigns.  These  treasures  had  no  doubt  been  u.sed 
for  the  expen.ses  of  the  siege  or  for  expenses  outside, 
or  else  had  been  removed  before  the  invasion  of  the 
l""rench.  I  remember  having  seen  a  little  box  brought 
to  the  Tuileries,  containing  specimens  of  fragments  of 


570  MEMOIRS    OF 

ornaments,  clumsily  carved  in  open-work,  in  silver, 
silver  gilt  or  copper  gilt,  set  with  some  stones  of  small 
value.  These  debris  came  from  the  famous  chapel  of 
Our  Lady  del  Pilar. 

It  was  at  the  picture  exhibition  of  this  same  year, 
1809,  that  the  Emperor  wished  to  be  represented  in 
full  length  in  his  cabinet  and  gave  orders  that  I  should 
appear  in  the  picture,  writing  from  his  dictation.  The 
painter  Garnier  received  the  order  to  execute  this  por- 
trait. I  did  not  happen  to  be  in  Paris  whilst  the 
painter  was  working  at  it,  for  I  had  accompanied  the 
Emperor  on  one  of  his  journeys.  The  painter  Isabey 
was  good  enough  to  make  up  for  this  drawback  by 
helping  Garnier  with  his  memory  and  on  my  return 
to  Paris  Garnier  asked  me  to  sit  to  him  so  that  he 
might  give  the  last  touches  to  his  work.  I  do  not 
know  in  what  way  it  came  to  the  Emperor's  ears  that 
the  execution  of  this  picture  left  a  good  deal  to  be 
desired,  but  he  ordered  General  Duroc  to  write  on  the 
subject  to  M.  Denon,  director-general  of  museums, 
who  took  the  painter's  defence.  At  last  the  picture 
was  accepted  and  was  placed  in  one  of  the  galleries 
at  the  Tuileries.  In  18 14  it  was  relegated  to  the 
lumber  room  with  all  those  which  had  for  subject  the 
history  of  "the  usurper,"  or  else  it  was  given  back  to 
the  author  as  were  other  pictures  of  the  same  kind 
which  were  restored  to  their  painters.  Found  in  1839 
at  a  picture-dealer's,  by  the  son  of  one  of  my  old 
friends.  Count  Lemarrois,  he  bought  it,  from  attach- 
ment to  the  Emperor's  memory  and  in  remembrance 
of  the  friendship  which  bound  me  to  his  father. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1809  'the  Emperor 
at  last  decided  to  fill  the  two  places  of  secretary  to 
the  cabinet  which  had  been  created  in  1804.  One  of 
the  new  secretaries  was  charged,  amongst  other  func- 
tions  with   translating   the    foreign    newspapers    and 


NAPOLEON    I.  571 

periodicals  and  entered,  though  rarely.  Napoleon's 
cabinet.  This  was  Baron  Mounier,  auditor  to  the 
Council  of  State,  who  had  been  employed  at  the  time 
of  the  war  of  1806-1S07  in  the  government  of  the 
province  of  Silesia.  M.  jMounier  was  the  son  of  the 
deputy  of  the  Constituent  Assembly,  whom  Napoleon 
had  recalled  from  exile  and  whose  capacity  and  merit 
he  had  rewarded  by  appointing  him,  on  his  return  to 
France,  Prefect  of  Rennes,  and  afterwards  by  calling 
him  to  a  post  at  the  Council  of  State.  The  Emperor's 
esteem  for  the  father  descended  upon  the  son,  who  was 
an  intelligent  and  well-informed  young  man,  of  much 
promise  which,  later,  he  fully  realized. 

The  second  secretary  of  the  cabinet,  who  was  spe- 
cially charged  with  all  concerning  artillery  and  engi- 
neering, was  Baron  de  Ponthon,  at  that  time  colonel 
of  engineers.  He  had  taken  part  in  the  memorable 
campaign  in  Egypt  and  enjoyed  a  well-deserved  repu- 
tation in  his  branch  of  the  service.  This  officer  after- 
wards became  lieutenant-general  and  member  of  the 
committee  of  engineers. 

The  Emperor  completed  his  cabinet  later  on  by  plac- 
ing at  the  head  of  his  topographical  office.  Colonel 
Bacler  d'Allje,  who  afterwards  became  general.  He 
was  the  author  of  the  military  map  of  Italy,  was  en- 
dowed with  a  most  happy  facility  for  the  arts,  and  was 
animated  with  what  Napoleon  used  to  call  the  sacred 
fire.  D'Albe  was  assisted  by  two  geographical  engi- 
neers of  merit,  MM.  Lameau  and  Duvivier. 

In  forcing  the  Emperor  to  return  at  full  speed  from 
Spain,  the  coalition  effected  the  objects  it  had  in  view, 
namely  of  preventing  the  pacification  of  this  country 
and  of  dividing  our  forces.  The  Emperor  heard,  by 
telegraph,  on  April  12th.  that  Arch-duke  Charles  had 
entered  Bavaria  and  that  his  troops  had  passed  the 
Inn  without  any  previous  declaration  of  war.     This 


572  MEMOIRS    OF 

declaration  was  only  notified  to  the  outposts  on  the 
morrow  of  the  day  on  which  the  invasion  had  taken 
place.  Napoleon  left  the  Elysee  on  the  13th  of  April 
at  four  in  the  morning.  He  passed  on  with  unheard- 
of  speed  and  reached  head-quarters  at  Donawerth  on 
the  fifth  day.  after  having  stopped  at  Louisburg  and 
Dillingen  to  see  the  Kings  of  VVurtemberg  and  Bavaria. 

The  Emperor  found  Marshal  Berthier  at  Dona- 
werth. He  learned  here  that  through  a  misunderstand- 
ing of  his  orders  the  communication  between  the  corps 
of  Bavarians  commanded  by  Marshal  Lefebvre  and 
Marshal  Davout's  corps  was  cut  off.  New  activity 
was  given  to  his  genius  by  the  necessity  of  repairing 
this  fault.  The  battles  of  Thann  and  of  Abensberg, 
won  with  the  troops  of  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine 
and  the  victory  of  Ecmuehl,  which  earned  for  Marshal 
Davout  the  title  of  Prince  of  Ecmuehl.  bestowed  later, 
were  the  results  of  these  clever  manoeuvres.  So  rapid 
had  been  the  movements  that  Napoleon's  household 
had  not  been  able  to  follow  him,  and  that  he  had  to 
live  like  a  soldier,  only  riding  borrowed  horses. 

I  have  often  heard  the  Emperor  complain  of  how 
inferior  we  were  to  the  Romans.  Yet,  according  to  the 
best  military  writers,  he  had  no  reason  to  envy  any  one 
of  the  heroes  of  antiquity  either  for  the  rapidity  of 
the  marches  or  for  the  preciseness  of  the  manoeuvres 
which  characterized  the  commencement  of  this  cam- 
paign. 

Two  occurrences  marked  this  victorious  march. 
The  first  might  have  deprived  the  army  of  its  leader. 
Napoleon  was  seated  on  a  spot  fiom  which  he  could 
see  the  attack  on  the  town  of  Ratisbon.  He  was 
beating  the  ground  with  his  riding-whip  when  a  bullet, 
supposed  to  have  been  fired  from  a  Tyrolean  carbine 
struck  him  on  the  big  toe.  The  news  of  his  wound 
spread  rapidly  from  file  to  file  and  he  was  forced  to 


NAPOLEON    I.  573 

mount  on  horseback  to  show  himself  to  the  troops. 
Altliough  his  boot  had  not  been  cut,  the  wound  was 
a  very  painful  one.  Napoleon,  however,  put  a  good 
face  on  the  matter,  but  nature  would  not  forego  her 
rights.  On  returning  from  this  short  excursion  to  a 
small  house  which  was  at  a  distance  of  some  gun- 
ranges  from  the  spot  where  he  had  been  wounded,  his 
courage  being  exhausted  he  fainted  right  away.  This 
wound  had  fortunately  no  evil  consequences. 

A  feat  of  arms  of  unparalleled  bravery,  the  taking 
by  storm  of  the  Ebensberg  position,  which  was  re- 
puted inexpugnable,  also  marked  this  campaign.  A 
wooden  bridge  of  more  than  six  hundred  feet  in 
length,  protected  by  a  stronghold  and  precipitous 
heights  which  were  crowned  by  superior  forces  and  a 
hundred  pieces  of  artillery,  was  carried  by  General 
Coehorn.  The  gates  of  the  city  were  broken  down 
and  a  most  violent  encounter  ensued.  The  houses  in 
which  a  number  of  wounded  soldiers  and  combatants 
had  been  driven  back,  without  being  able  to  escape, 
caught  fire  and  were  burned  down  to  the  ground  with 
every  man  inside  them.  The  sight  presented  by  this 
unhappy  city,  with  its  streets  strewn  with  corpses  half- 
consumed  by  fire  and  spreading  a  fearful  stench,  was 
one  of  the  most  horrible  that  can  be  imagined.  The 
Emperor  was  painfully  impressed  by  it.  He  could  not 
refrain  from  praising  General  Coehorn  for  his  rare 
courage,  but  he  deplored  the  losses  which  would  have 
been  avoided  if  Marshal  Massena  had  given  orders  to 
turn  this  position. 

The  Emperor  saw  for  a  second  time  the  city  of 
Vienna  whose  sovereign  had  sworn  to  him  in  1805, 
at  the  memorable  interview  at  the  bivouac  at  Sar- 
Uschitz,  that  he  would  war  on  him  no  more.  This 
time  Vienna  tried  to  defend  herself.  Marshal  Lanncs 
had  sent  Captain  Marbot.  with  a  flag  of  truce,  carrying 


574  MEMOIRS    OF 

a  summons.  The  young  aide-de-camp  was  attacked 
by  a  gang  of  ruffians,  ill-treated  and  even  wounded. 
Arch-duke  Maximilian  approved  of  the  conduct  of 
these  wretches  by  allowing  it  to  pass  unreproved  and 
kept  the  captain  prisoner.  After  this  violation  of  in- 
ternational law  and  the  refusal  of  the  Arch-duke  to 
open  the  gates  of  the  city  a  bombardment  was  de- 
cided upon.  It  has  been  stated,  in  error,  that  Arch- 
duchess Marie  Louise,  being  ill,  had  remained  behind 
in  the  imperial  palace.  It  has  been  added  that  on 
hearing  this  the  Emperor  gave  orders  that  the  cannon 
should  not  be  fired  in  that  direction.  The  human 
mind  hankers  too  much  after  the  belief  that  great  men 
have  a  mysterious  foresight  of  their  destinies.  Arch- 
duke Maximilian,  frightened  perhaps  at  the  respon- 
sibility which  he  had  assumed  left  Vienna  hastily  and 
crossed  the  bridges  without  leaving  any  orders.  On 
May  1 2th  a  French  army  occupied  Vienna  after  that 
city  had  capitulated,  at  the  request  of  a  deputation 
which  was  presented  to  the  Emperor  at  Schonbrunn 
where  he  had  taken  up  his  quarters.  Napoleon  as- 
sured the  delegates  of  his  protection  and  promised 
them  that  the  city  of  Vienna  should  be  treated  with 
the  same  consideration  as  at  the  time  of  the  first  oc- 
cupation in  1805. 

The  Emperor  remained  a  week  at  Schonbrunn. 
In  the  meanwhile  the  Island  of  Lobau,  which  is  sit- 
uated at  a  distance  of  two  leagues  from  Vienna  and 
which  divides  the  Danube  into  several  branches,  was 
occupied  by  the  French  army  with  a  view  of  establish- 
ing a  point  at  which  our  troops  could  cross  the  river. 
Three  bridges  were  thrown  across  it,  thanks  to  which 
our  army  was  able  to  commence  to  cross  on  May  20th, 
to  attack  the  enemy  on  the  left  bank.  But  hardly  had 
Marshal  Massena  got  into  touch  with  the  Austrian 
army  when  a  part  of  the  little  bridges  was  broken. 


NAPOLEON    I.  575 

The  Austrians,  masters  of  the  upper  reaches  of  the 
Danube  set  loose  large  barges  filled  with  stones  and 
cannon-balls,  which  boriic  along  by  the  rapidity  of  the 
current,  which  had  been  increased  by  a  sudden  rising 
of  the  river,  dashed  against  the  bridges  breaking  them 
down  in  several  places.  The  inferiority  of  strength  of 
our  fourth  corps,  was  compensated  for  by  the  heroic 
tenacity  of  Alassena  and  the  impetuous  courage  of 
Lannes.  The  latter,  separated  from  his  corps  by  the 
breaking-down  of  the  bridges,  but  impatient  to  take 
part  in  the  action,  marched  at  the  head  of  the  Boudet 
division,  which  he  directed  with  the  greatest  courage. 
The  two  armies  faced  each  other  during  the  night.  On 
the  morrow  the  second  corps,  the  guards  and  the  cuir- 
assiers were  able  to  cross  the  bridges  which  had  been 
repaired  during  the  night.  Marshal  Devout's  corps 
was  to  follow,  as  also  the  other  corps  as  they  came  up. 
The  battle  of  Essling  which  had  been  suspended  the 
day  before  began  again,  and  victory,  the  price  of  the 
most  vigorous  efforts,  was  just  about  to  declare  itself 
for  us  when  the  sinister  report  that  the  big  bridge  had 
broken  down  was  suddenly  spread.  Anything  beyond 
keeping  our  ground  until  the  end  of  the  day  and  re- 
turning at  nightfall  to  the  Island  of  Essling,  became 
out  of  the  question.  This  critical  position  was  to  be  ag- 
gravated by  the  cruel  loss  which  the  Emperor  and  the 
army  experienced  in  the  person  of  Marshal  Lannes. 
A  spent  cannon-ball  shattered  both  legs  of  this 
valiant  soldier.  When  the  Emperor  saw  the  litter 
on  which  the  Marshal  was  being  carried,  his 
face  overdrawn  with  the  pallor  of  death,  he  ordered 
it  to  be  carried  to  one  side  and  walking  (juickly 
up  to  it  threw  himself  upon  the  hero  who  was 
dying,  and  embraced  him  with  choking  sobs.  The 
impression  produced  by  this  heart-rending  scene  can- 
not   be    descrilx;d.       The    Emperor's    grief    was    so 


576  MEMOIRS    OF 

great  that  two  days  later,  the  remembrance  of  It  still 
tilled  his  eyes  with  tears  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts  to 
conceal  them.  The  Marshal  transported  to  the  village 
of  Ebersdorf,  died  there  a  week  later  from  the  con- 
secjuence  of  his  terrible  wounds. 

In  Marshal  Lannes  the  Emperor  had  had  a  loss  for 
which  he  could  not  console  himself.  He  never  wearied 
in  his  praises  of  the  merits  of  one  of  his  oldest  com- 
rades-in-arms. He  used  to  express  his  astonishment 
at  the  way  in  which  each  year  the  Marshal  developed 
his  talents,  his  prudence,  and  his  knowledge  of  the 
military  art.  Considered  apart  from  his  capacity  as  a 
soldier,  the  Duke  of  Montebello  had  an  extremely 
original  mind.  A  book  could  be  made  of  the  piquant, 
energetic  and  always  expressive  sayings  which  escaped 
him.  It  was  he  who  said  to  M.  de  Talleyrand  after 
the  battle  of  Austerlitz,  that  victory  had  sharpened  the 
points  of  the  pens  of  diplomacy  with  cuts  of  the  sabre. 
He  used  to  say  of  Talleyrand's  impassiveness  that  if 
he  were  to  receive  a  kick  in  his  seat  of  honour  his  face 
would  not  betray  the  event,  and  summed  him  up  in 
this  saying  which  is  perhaps  strictly  true,  if  expressed 
in  somewhat  too  military  language :  'Tt's  a  lot  of  .  .  . 
mud  in  a  silk  stocking." 

By  way  of  an  anecdote,  I  will  speak  of  an  accident 
which  will  appear  the  merest  trifle  compared  to  the 
misfortune  which  had  just  robbed  the  army  of  a  glo- 
rious captain.  I  happened  to  be  on  foot,  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Danube,  in  front  of  the  bridge  which  com- 
municated with  the  Island  of  Lobau,  when  I  saw  the 
Emperor  come  up  and  climb  up  on  to  the  top  of  a 
mill-house  to  see  what  was  going  on.  I  was  looking 
at  him  when  I  felt  myself  struck  with  a  blow — it  was 
a  horse's  kick — which  stretched  me  full-length  on  the 
ground.  Napoleon  saw  me  fall  just  as  he  was  coming 
down  from  his  point  of  observation,  thought  that  I 


NAPOLEON    I.  577 

was  dang^erously  wounded,  and  gave  orders  at  once 
tliat  1  should  be  picked  up  and  transported  to  the  is- 
land. I  had  only  been  rendered  rather  dizzy  by  the 
blow  so  he  reassured  himself  and  said:  "Get  away 
as  fast  as  you  can.  You  gave  me  a  great  fright."  I 
felt  no  consequences  from  this  accident. 

General  Espagne,  commanding  the  cuirassiers,  was 
killed  by  a  cannon-ball,  and  General  St.  Hilaire  was 
seriously  wounded.  It  was  feared  at  first  that  we  had 
to  deplore  the  deaths  of  Generals  Durosnel  and  Fouler 
but  we  had  the  satisfaction  of  learning  that  the  first 
of  these  officers  had  not  been  wounded  at  all  and  the 
second  only  slightly.  They  had  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy  who  sent  them  back  to  French  head- 
quarters after  the  battle  of  Wagram. 

The  troops  who  were  shut  up  in  the  Island  of  Lo- 
bau,  and  especially  the  wounded,  suffered  great  priva- 
tions during  the  first  days.  Soon,  however,  stores  of 
provisions  and  ambulances  were  established  there.  In- 
stead of  evacuating  the  island,  the  Emperor  had  works 
worthy  of  the  Romans  carried  out  there  under  the  di- 
rection of  General  Bertrand.  Napoleon  spent  twelve 
days  at  El3ersdorf,  a  village  situated  opposite  the  Island 
of  Lobau,  occupied  with  caring  for  the  wounded  and 
providing  for  the  needs  of  the  soldiers  who  remained 
on  the  island.  The  works  were  commenced  under  his 
eyes  and  he  distributed  the  rest  of  the  army  into 
cantonments,  after  which  he  returned  to  Schon- 
brunn. 

The  indignation  felt  by  the  Emperor  at  the  conduct 
of  the  Austrian  general  Chasteler  in  Tyrol,  where 
seven  hundred  French  conscripts  and  eighteen  hun- 
dred Bavarians  had  been  massacred  in  his  presence  by 
the  rebels,  had  promjjted  an  order  of  the  day  provid- 
ing that  this  general,  in  case  he  should  be  made  pris- 
oner, should  be  tried  by  court-martial  and  put  to  the 


578  MEMOIRS    OF 

edge  of  the  sword.  The  Emperor  of  Austria  having 
heard  of  his  order,  had  declared  that  the  Generals 
Durosnel  and  Fouler  would  be  kept  as  hostages  to 
answer  for  the  way  in  which  General  Chasteler  was 
treated.  When  this  declaration  was  notified  to  Na- 
poleon, he  gave  the  necessary  orders  that  the  persons 
of  the  Princes  Colloredo  and  Metternich  as  well  as 
Counts  Pergen  and  Hardeck  who  had  remained  in 
Vienna  should  be  seized,  and  that,  by  way  of  reprisal, 
these  persons  should  be  conducted  to  France  after 
their  arrest.  The  Emperor  at  the  same  time  author- 
ized a  deputation  from  the  city  of  Vienna  to  go  to 
the  Austrian  sovereign  to  enlighten  him  on  the  parti- 
culars of  the  massacre  of  French  prisoners  in  Tyrol. 
Emperor  Francis,  better  informed,  retracted  his  order 
concerning  the  two  French  generals. 

During  the  months  of  April  and  May  the  intrigues 
of  the  agents  of  England  and  of  the  coalition  had  been 
directed  towards  raising  to  insurrection  the  provinces 
in  the  North  of  Germany  which  had  belonged  to 
Prussia,  or  which  had  been  dependent  on  this  power. 
These  provinces  were  filled  with  former  soldiers,  pri- 
soners of  war  who  had  returned  home  or  who  had 
escaped  from  the  last  defeats.  Katt,  a  Prussian  offi- 
cer, had  assembled  a  large  number  of  these  persons, 
had  seized  on  the  public  treasuries,  and  had  cut  off  the 
communications,  seeking  to  stir  up  the  country  to  re- 
volt. Pursued  by  the  Westphalian  troops  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  Bohemia,  where  with  the  remnants 
of  his  gang,  he  had  joined  the  Duke  of  Brunswick- 
Oels,  who  was  organizing  a  corps  of  volunteers  for 
Austria.  This  prince,  son  of  the  last  Duke  of  Bruns- 
wick— who  had  lost  his  life  at  the  battle  of  Jena — 
wishing  to  avenge  the  death  of  his  father  and  the  ruin 
of  his  house,  had  made  himself  the  leader  of  secret 
societies  and  of  insurrections  in  Germany.     He  had 


NAPOLEON  T.  579 

given  his  corps  a  black  uniform  with  the  emblems  of 
death. 

Towards  the  end  of  April  an  aide-de-camp  of  the 
King  of  Westphalia,  colonel  of  the  light  infantrymen 
of  his  guard,  a  certain  Doernberg,  at  the  head  of  a 
troop  of  smugglers  and  employes,  partly  military, 
partly  civilian,  which  was  increased  by  armed  peasants 
recruited  in  Westphalia  and  in  Hanover,  had  raised 
the  standard  of  revolt  and  had  marched  on  Cassel, 
hoping  to  surprise  this  city  in  a  defenceless  state  and 
had  then  thrown  himself  back  on  Magdeburg.  The 
activity  and  vigour  which  the  young  King  of  West- 
phalia, seconded  by  the  leaders  of  his  army,  had  dis- 
played in  dealing  with  this  attempt  at  an  insurrection 
had  ended  by  getting  the  best  of  it.  But  Doernberg 
who  had  been  reduced  to  flight  in  company  with 
some  officers  had  succeeded  in  joining  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  who  was  the  soul  of  all  these  revolution- 
ary' movements. 

Shortly  afterwards,  the  Prussian  major,  Schill, 
former  partisan  in  the  war  in  1806,  marched  out  of 
Berlin  at  the  head  of  five  hundred  hussars  of  his  reg- 
iment on  the  pretext,  as  it  appears,  of  manoeuvres. 
He  was  joined  by  a  battalion  of  infantry  whicli  had 
formed  part  of  his  corps  of  partisans.  After  fruitless 
attempts  against  the  fortresses  in  the  North  of  Ger- 
many he  had  drawn  back  on  Westphalia  to  give  a 
hand  to  the  remainder  of  Doernberg's  insurgents. 
Schill  having  assembled  the  forces  which  he  consid- 
ered sufficient,  tried  a  coitp  dc  main  on  Magdeburg 
and  having  failed  marched  on  the  lower  Elbe.  In  the 
meanwhile  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  was  tardily  enter- 
ing Saxony  to  join  the  Prussian  partisan.  But  the 
latter  was  approaching  the  Baltic  to  put  himself  in 
communication  with  the  English  fleet  and  to  receive 
from  it  the  arms  and  ammunition,  which  he  lacked. 

F — Meuiuir*  \  ol-  7 


58o  MEMOIRS    OF 

Schill  invaded  Mecklenberg  and,  followed  by  five  or 
six  thousand  men — Prussian  and  Austrian  deserters 
— of  Mecklenbergers  whom  he  had  enrolled,  and  a 
multitude  of  vagrants,  had  entered  the  city  of  Stral- 
sund  which  he  had  fortified.  General  Gratien — I  am 
not  quite  sure  about  the  name  of  this  general — with  a 
Dutch  division,  backed  up  by  a  column  of  Danish  sol- 
diers, marched  on  Stralsund  and  carried  its  retrench- 
ments by  storm.  Schill,  to  cover  his  retreat  had 
wished  to  set  fire  to  the  city  in  which  a  stubborn  street- 
by-street  fight  was  fought.  The  whole  band  was 
taken  or  killed  and  Schill  himself  lost  his  life. 

The  Duke  of  Brunswick,  on  his  side,  had  broken 
into  Westphalia  where  he  hoped  that  the  people  of 
his  ancient  duchy  would  flock  under  his  banner,  but 
he  only  succeeded  in  raising  a  few  villagers.  Neg- 
lected by  Austria  who  was  sufficiently  taken  up  with 
her  own  reverses,  forced  to  flee  by  the  troops  which 
tracked  him  on  every  side,  the  Duke  had  to  gain  the 
sea-side  with  all  speed,  where  together  with  the  rest 
of  his  supporters  he  was  received  by  the  English  fleet. 

These  attempts  at  insurrection  necessarily  found 
support  in  the  anti-French  spirit  of  the  provinces 
whose  situations  and  interests  had  been  changed  by 
our  conquests.  They  were  the  preludes  of  a  general 
insurrection  in  Germany,  which  was  only  realized 
much  later,  but  which  the  coalition  always  hoped  for. 
If  the  ill-arranged  enterprises  of  Doernberg,  Schill, 
and  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  had  taken  place  simultan- 
eously, French  domination  in  the  North  of  Germany 
would  have  been  seriously  embarrassed  at  this  time. 

The  French  army  in  Italy,  commanded  by  the  vice- 
roy, aided  and  stimulated  by  the  splendid  successes  of 
the  Great  Army,  had  taken  grand  revenge  for  the 
reverse  which  it  had  experienced  at  the  beginning  of 


NAPOLEON    I.  581 

the  campaign,  a  reverse  which  had  forced  it  to  retreat 
as  far  as  the  Adige.  The  battle  of  Pavia  and  several 
encounters  in  which  the  Austrian  army,  under  the 
command  of  Arch-duke  John  lost  half  of  its  force, 
gloriously  avenged  the  army  of  Italy  for  this  defeat. 
The  arch-dukc.  pursued  at  the  point  of  the  sw^ord,  got 
no  breathing-time  until  he  had  crossed  the  frontier 
whicli  separates  Upper  Italy  from  the  Austrian  hered- 
itary States.  The  viceroy  still  on  the  heels  of  his 
adversary  reached  Bruck  on  May  26th,  where  he 
joined  in  with  the  Great  Army.  The  appearance  of 
the  runners  of  the  army  of  Italy  on  the  Simmering 
was  quite  an  event.  The  Emperor,  who  expected  it, 
had  sent  Lauriston,  his  aide-de-camp  to  meet  it.  A 
chasseur  of  the  9th  regiment  of  the  army  of  Italy  met 
with  a  chasseur  of  the  20th,  sent  to  reconnoitre  by 
General  Lauriston.  The  two  soldiers  after  having 
watched  each  other  some  time  saw  that  each  was 
French  and  fell  into  each  other's  arms.  Prince  Eu- 
gene arrived  in  Ebersdorf  two  days  later  where  he 
received  the  Emperor's  compliments  which  he  had  so 
fully  deserved. 

Arch-duke  John  had  joined  the  army  of  the  Arch- 
duke Palatine,  iiis  brother.  Prince  Eugene  marched 
to  meet  them  and  came  up  with  them  near  Raab,  a 
fortified  town  in  Hungary.  On  June  14th,  he  at- 
tacked this  combined  army  which  exceeded  the  French 
forces  by  fifteen  thousand  men.  The  enemy  was  com- 
pletely routed  and  lost  six  thousand  men,  killed  and 
wounded,  cannons  and  flags.  Napoleon  expressed  his 
satisfaction  to  the  viceroy  for  a  victory  which,  won 
on  June  14th,  was  honoured  by  him  with  the  name  of 
"  Granddaughter  of  the  battle  of  Marengo,"  which  had 
been  won  on  the  .same  date,  on  this  spot,  eight  years 
previously.  On  the  24th,  our  troops  entered  the  forti- 
lied  place  (jf  Raab,  the  garrison  of  which,  two  thou- 


582  MEMOIRS    OF 

sand  five  hundred  men  strong,  became  prisoners  of 
war. 

The  Island  of  Lobau  had  become  a  large  entrenched 
camp  guarded  by  Marshal  Massena's  corps,  or  rather 
I  should  say  a  fortified  place  defended  by  one  hundred 
and  twenty  cannon  of  big  calibre,  by  mortars  and 
howitzers  in  batteries.  Three  large  bridges  had  been 
built  there  of  a  solidity  able  to  resist  anything,  which 
were  protected  by  bridge-heads  covering  a  space  of 
more  than  sixteen  hundred  fathoms,  composed  of 
palisaded  redouts  and  surrounded  with  ditches  full 
of  water.  During  the  month  which  the  Emperor 
spent  at  Schonbrunn  he  had  made  frequent  excur- 
sions to  Ebersdorf  and  had  occupied  himself  with  his 
usual  activity  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  bridges  as 
well  as  in  giving  orders  for  assembling  round  Vienna 
sufficient  forces  to  be  ready  for  an  emergency. 
Napoleon's  solicitude  had  been  applied  to  the  state  of 
the  hospitals  which  he  had  made  his  aides-de-camp 
visit.  They  had  orders  to  put  sums  amounting  to 
sixty  francs  for  a  soldier  and  twelve  hundred  francs 
for  an  officer  on  the  beds  of  the  wounded  soldiers  and 
officers. 

After  the  army  had  rested,  the  artillery  had  been 
reorganized  and  ammunition  of  all  kinds  had  been  got 
together,  the  Emperor  left  Schonbrunn  and  trans- 
ported his  head-quarters  to  Ebersdorf.  On  July  4th, 
the  whole  army  was  assembled  in  the  Island  of  Lobau. 
On  the  night  of  the  same  day  it  marched  out  in  perfect 
order  which  was  not  troubled  by  a  fearful  storm  ac- 
companied by  a  deluge  of  rain,  crossing  six  bridges 
which  had  been  prepared  in  advance,  under  the  protec- 
tion of  strong  stockades,  and  which  had  been  thrown 
over  the  river  in  a  space  of  two  hours  with  admirable 
precision. 

During  this  time  I  was  shut  up  with  M.  de  Cham- 


XAPOLEOX    I.  583 

pagny,  Minister  of  Exterior  Relations  in  a  room  in 
the  Emperor's  lodgings  at  Ebersdorf  where  we 
awaited  the  result  of  the  crossing  of  the  river  with 
keen  anxiety.  We  listened  in  mute  dismay  to  the 
peals  of  thunder  which  shook  the  ground  and  to  the 
torrents  of  rain  which  threatened  to  drown  us  all,  not 
knowing  whether  this  riot  of  elements  would  favour  or 
impede  the  army's  crossing.  We  heard  at  last,  to- 
wards daybreak,  of  the  entire  success  of  this  brave 
operation.  A  fine  day  had  followed  on  this  terrible 
night.  The  enemy  deceived  by  false  demonstrations 
on  the  other  side  of  the  river  was  astonished  to  see 
deploying  in  the  plain  of  Enzersdorf,  the  imposing 
masses  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men,  backed 
by  four  hundred  pieces  of  artillery  which  had  ap- 
peared as  though  by  magic  very  far  from  the  spot  at 
which  they  were  expected.  On  the  evening  of  the 
same  day  began  the  attack  on  an  important  position, 
a  combat  which  was  the  prelude  to  the  great  battle  of 
Wagram  which  was  fought  on  the  morrow,  tiie  6th.  I 
spent  this  day  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  field  of 
battle,  riding  about  on  horseback  in  company  of  the 
Colonels  Czernitcheff  and  Gorgoli,  aides-de-camp  to 
the  Czar,  who  had  been  sent  to  the  Emperor  and  who 
found  themselves  at  his  head-quarters.  These  two 
ofticers  were  rather  dissatisfied  at  not  being  called  to 
form  part  of  the  Emperor's  staff  during  the  action. 
One  of  them  said  with  a  certain  amount  of  vexation 
that  it  was  no  doubt  on  account  of  their  white  crests 
that  they  had  been  excluded. 

On  the  evening  of  tiie  battle  I  joined  the  Emperor's 
bivouac.  Hardly  had  Napoleon  reached  it  when  a 
cry  of  "saiive  qui  pent"  spread  a  panic,  which  for- 
tunately was  not  of  very  long  duration.  A  stray  band 
of  the  enemy  had  come  upon  our  outposts  and  had 
caused  this  affray. 


584  MEMOIRS    OF 

The  battle  of  Wagram  was  a  murderous  one.  The 
Austrians  lost  twenty-five  thousand  men,  and  three  of 
their  generals  were  killed.  Our  losses  were  less  impor- 
tant, but  we  also  lost  three  generals  including  General 
Lasalle,  one  of  the  best  general  officers  in  our  army. 
By  a  sinister  presentiment  of  his  approaching  end 
General  Lasalle  had  the  evening  before  recommended 
his  children  to  the  Emperor's  care  in  a  touching  letter. 

Napoleon  rode  over  the  field  of  battle  to  have  the 
wounded  removed  and  attended  to,  which  was  a  duty 
which  he  entrusted  to  nobody  but  himself.  From  time 
to  time  he  would  halt  and  order  silence  so  that  he 
might  hear  the  groans  of  the  woUnded.  He  would 
ride  in  the  direction  of  these  groans,  when  he  was  not 
detained  by  having  to  attend  to  soldiers  on  the  spot 
where  he  happened  to  be,  or  else  he  would  send  people 
with  help.  With  this  object  in  view  he  used  to  spread 
the  men  of  his  escort  out  in  different  directions. 

Oudet,  colonel  of  the  9th  infantry  regiment,  who 
died  in  consequence  of  the  wounds  which  he  received 
in  this  battle,  has  been  a  great  deal  talked  about. 
Lying  rumours  collected  by  the  historian  of  the  secret 
societies  of  the  army  and  of  the  military  conspiracies, 
have  represented  this  colonel  as  the  leader  of  these 
imaginary  associations  and  describe  him  as  having 
fallen  a  victim  to  a  murder  carried  out  by  Napoleon's 
orders.  The  falseness  of  this  calumn}^  has  already 
been  easily  proved,  but  its  very  absurdity  should  have 
sufficed  for  its  refutation. 

On  the  morrow  of  the  battle  of  Wagram,  the  Em- 
peror whilst  visiting  the  corps  and  distributing  the 
rewards  which  each  had  merited,  met  General  Mac- 
donald  and  stretched  out  his  hand  to  him  in  sign  of 
reconciliation.  Macdonald,  a  friend  of  Moreau,  had 
been  for  a  long  time  in  disgrace  and  kept  away  from 
the  army.     On  his  asking  to  be  allowed  to   resume 


NAPOLEON    I.  585 

his  service,  Napoleon  who  esteemed  his  talents  had 
entrusted  him,  during  this  campaign,  with  the  com- 
mand of  the  right  wing  of  the  army  of  Italy  under 
Prince  Eugene.  He  created  him  Marshal  of  France 
as  well  as  Generals  Oudinot  and  Marmont. 

The  victory  of  the  French  at  Wagram  liad  not 
destroyed  the  Austrian  armv,  which  in  spite  of  the 
losses  which  it  had  experienced  retreated  in  good 
order.  It  was  on  the  nth  August  only  that  Prince 
John  von  Lichtenstein  presented  himself  at  Znaim 
with  powers  to  conclude  an  armistice  and  even  to 
treat  for  peace.  The  armistice  had  been  proposed  by 
Arch-duke  Charles  in  virtue  of  his  unlimited  powers. 
The  Emperor  of  Austria,  who  had  retired  to  Baden, 
refused  to  ratify  this  armistice  and  removed  the  Arch- 
duke from  the  command  of  his  army.  Napoleon  sent 
him  the  decoration  of  a  simple  Knight  of  the  Legion  of 
Honour.  The  Emperor  Francis,  better  advised,  ac- 
cepted the  armistice  five  days  later,  with  the  mental 
reservation  that  it  would  give  him  the  time  to  reject  it 
during  the  period  fixed  for  its  duration.  The  Emperor 
Napoleon  after  having  distributed  his  troops  over  the 
districts  designated  by  the  treaty  of  armistice  pro- 
ceeded to  Schonbrunn.  Conferences  were  opened  at 
Altenburg  between  M.  de  Champagny  and  M.  de  Mct- 
tcrnich.  The  negotiation  dragging,  because  the  Aus- 
trian plenipotentiary,  counting  no  doubt  on  the  diver- 
sion which  the  English  expedition  in  the  island  of 
Walcheren  would  cause,  wanted  to  gain  time,  the 
Emperor  summoned  his  Minister  of  Exterior  Rela- 
tions to  Vienna.  After  long  tergiversations  to  which 
Napoleon's  firmness  put  a  stop,  peace  was  signed  in 
his  presence,  on  October  14th,  by  M.  de  Champagny 
and  Prince  von  Lichtenstein  who  had  taken  Met- 
ternich's  place. 

It  is  very  probable  that  the  signing  of  the  peace 


586  MEMOIRS    OF 

was  hurried  on  by  an  event  which  produced  a  strong 
impression  on  Napoleon,  though  he  tried  not  to  let 
this  be  seen.  One  day  in  October,  at  Schonbrunn, 
whilst  the  troops  were  marching  before  him  at  noon- 
day parade  a  young  man  tried  to  approach  the  Em- 
peror. This  person  held  a  paper  in  his  hands  which 
was  thought  to  be  a  petition.  He  was  told  to  hand  it 
to  the  aide-de-camp  in  attendance,  who  was  General 
Rapp,  but  he  answered  that  he  wished  to  speak  to  Na- 
poleon. As  often  rebutted  so  often  he  returned.  This 
manner  of  insisting  appeared  suspicious,  his  decided 
though  calm  appearance,  the  expression  of  his  eyes,  his 
right  hand  which  he  held  in  his  bosom,  struck  Gen- 
eral Rapp's  attention.  The  General  ordered  him  to  be 
arrested  and  to  be  taken  to  the  castle.  All  this  was 
done  without  being  noticed.  It  was  soon  known  that 
a  large  kitchen-knife  had  been  found  on  this  young 
man,  who  was  a  student  of  the  University  of  Erfurth, 
named  Staaps.  Asked  as  to  what  he  intended  to  do 
with  this  knife  he  had  no  hesitation  in  declaring  that 
he  wanted  to  kill  Napoleon.  Informed  of  this  fact, 
the  Emperor  on  his  return  to  the  castle,  ordered 
that  the  young  man  should  be  brought  into  the  draw- 
ing-room where  the  Prince  of  Neufchatel,  Bernadotte 
and  the  Generals  Duroc  and  Savary  were  present. 
Staaps  approached  the  Emperor  with  a  respectful  but 
determined  air.  He  admitted  to  Napoleon  that  he  had 
come  with  the  intention  of  killing  him,  although  the 
French  sovereign  had  done  him,  personally,  no  harm. 
He  declared  that  he  had  the  conviction  that  in  killing 
the  Emperor  he  should  render  a  great  service  to  his 
country  and  to  Europe,  and  added  that  he  was  neither 
ill  nor  mad  and  that  he  had  spoken  of  his  plan  to 
nobody.  Napoleon  had  Doctor  Corvisart,  who  was 
then  at  Schonbrunn,  sent  for,  and  asked  him  if  he 
could  not  find  any  traces  of  madness  in  this  young 


NAPOLEON    I.  5S7 

man.  The  doctor  felt  his  pulse  and  declared  that  he 
could  not  find  any  symptoms  of  mental  alienation  in 
him.  Napoleon  struck  by  this  fanaticism,  and  touched 
with  pity  for  this  precocious  murderer,  ottered  to 
pardon  him  if  he  would  express  his  regret  for  the 
odious  act  which  he  had  wished  to  commit.  Staaps  re- 
jected any  idea  of  pardon,  and  said  that  he  regretted 
bitterly  that  he  had  not  been  able  to  carry  out  his  plan. 
"  But,"  said  Napoleon,  "  you  have  a  family  whose  ruin 
you  will  cause.  Vou  will  fill  the  heart  of  the  young  girl 
who  loves  you  with  despair.  If  I  grant  you  your  life 
will  you  be  grateful  to  me  for  it?  "  "  I  will  kill  you 
none  the  less."  The  Emperor  gave  order  that  he 
should  be  removed,  hoping  that  this  young  madman 
would  express  his  repentance  and  make  some  revela- 
tions. Staaps  remained  three  days  without  eating  and 
as  impassive  as  ever.  He  walked  on  foot  to  the  place 
of  the  execution  crying:  "Long  live  Germany.  Death 
to  the  tyrant."  Napoleon  heard  of  his  execution 
whilst  on  his  way  from  Vienna  to  Munich. 

By  the  public  and  secret  clauses  of  the  treaty  con- 
cluded with  Austria,  this  power  ceded  territories  con- 
taining a  population  of  three  and  a  half  millions  of 
inhabitants,  which  for  the  most  part  fell  to  the  lot  of 
the  kings  and  princes  who  were  allied  to  France. 
Austria  undertook  by  the  secret  clauses  to  reduce 
its  army  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men  dur- 
ing the  war  between  France  and  England ;  to  dismiss 
from  the  Austrian  service  all  military,  civil,  and  poli- 
tical employes  who  had  been  born  in  b'rench  provinces; 
and  finally  to  pay  a  war-indemnity  of  eighty-five  mil- 
lions of  francs. 

An  article  of  the  treaty  added  a  population  of  fifteen 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants  to  the  Grand-duchy  of 
Warsaw.  To  induce  Russia  to  agree  to  this  fresh 
step  towards  the  re-cstablislmu-nt  of  Poland,  a  tcrri- 


588  MEMOIRS    OF 

tory  of  four  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  which 
rounded  off  its  frontier  on  the  Ukraine  was  ceded  to 
this  power  which  took  part  in  the  treaty.  Russia  took 
it  over  as  cheerfully  as  she  had  done  with  the  district 
of  Bialistock,  at  Tilsitt,  when  this  province  was  taken 
from  Prussia,  her  ally.  One  might  have  thought  that 
the  Russian  Government,  sharing  in  the  spoils  wrested 
from  its  allies,  kept  them  back  to  be  restored  to  them 
when  circumstances  should  allow  it,  but  the  events  of 
1814  and  1815  occurred  without  Russia's  ever  dream- 
ing of  restoring  her  acquisitions. 

The  conduct  of  the  Russian  Government  during 
this  campaign  seemed  to  justify  the  extension  which 
was  given  to  the  Grand-duchy  of  Warsaw.  Alexan- 
der had  undertaken  at  Warsaw  to  declare  against  Aus- 
tria in  case  she  should  again  make  war  on  France. 
Although  Napoleon  had  no  reason  to  expect  that  the 
Russian  Cabinet  would  make  any  great  efforts  to  free 
the  provinces,  which  formerly  had  been  Polish,  and 
the  successive  emancipations  of  which  might  appear 
menacing  in  the  eyes  of  Russia,  which  had  taken  a 
large  part  in  the  division,  he  still  was  authorized  in 
considering  himself  discharged  of  all  obligations 
towards  the  Emperor  Alexander  who  had  not  kept 
the  promises  which  he  had  made  at  Erfurth.  Napo- 
leon who  had  counted  upon  the  effective  co-operation 
of  Russia,  about  equal  to  that  which  she  had  formerly 
tendered  to  her  allies  in  the  wars  of  the  coalition,  had 
just  been  completely  disappointed  on  this  point.  The 
Russian  contingent  consisted  of  a  body  of  fifteen  thou- 
sand men,  commanded  by  Prince  Galitzin,  who  re- 
fused to  concert  with  the  French  army  in  any  way. 
The  co-operation  of  this  corps  consisted  in  re-estab- 
lis.hing  Austrian  authorities  everywhere  where  they 
had  been  replaced  by  Polish  authorities,  and  in  seizing 
upon  Cracow  by  surprise,  to  establish  themselves  be- 


NAPOLEON    I.  589 

fore  the  Poles,  to  whom  tlie  Russians  refused  entrance. 
On  Prince  Poniatowski  threatening  to  force  his  way 
in.  the  Russians  agreed  to  occupy  the  town  in  common 
with  the  Poles,  i'his  attitude  showed  Napoleon  how 
little  he  could  rely  on  the  Russian  alliance,  but  he 
hid  his  resentment.  What  would  he  have  thought  if 
he  had  known  at  the  time  the  truth  about  Prince 
Schwarzenberg's  mission  to  St.  Petersburg?  This 
cnz'oyc,  who  afterwards  became  ambassador  to  Paris 
and  negotiator  for  Napoleon's  marriage  with  Prin- 
cess Marie  Louise  and  later  on  commander-in-chief  of 
the  united  armies  in  18 14,  had  been  charged  to  urge 
Russia  to  join  Austria  in  the  campaign  which  had  just 
finished.  Alexander,  indeed,  had  refused  these  pro- 
posals, but  not  for  the  motive  which  he  alleged  to  our 
ambassador  at  St.  Petersburg;  when  the  Czar  spoke 
to  the  latter  of  his  firm  resolution  to  persevere  in  the 
Tilsitt  alliance,  and  to  co-operate  by  his  efforts  to  re- 
pel Austria's  unjust  aggression  upon  his  ally.  Em- 
peror Alexander's  true  motive  was  to  gain  time  to 
prepare  himself  for  the  struggle  which  was  inevitable 
in  the  future,  but  which  at  that  time  he  was  unable  to 
support  against  us,  owing  to  the  remoteness  of  his 
armies,  occupied  the  one  in  Sweden  and  the  other  in 
Turkey.  It  was  this  last  motive,  the  only  genuine  one, 
which  dictated  Alexander's  replies  to  the  overtures  of 
the  Vienna  Cabinet.  This  reply  was  not  a  defection 
on  Russia's  part  towards  Austria,  for  its  sincerity 
could  be  tested  in  the  Russian  declarations  which  were 
expres.sed  after  Napoleon's  fall.  It  cannot  be  doubted 
that  if  Russia  had  really  wished  to  prevent  Austria 
from  making  war  against  us  in  1809,  a  simple  declara- 
tion on  her  part  to  the  Vienna  Cabinet  would  have 
sufficed.  Such  was  unfortunately  the  sincerity  of 
Emi)eror  Alexander's  sentiments.  I'he  Mussulman 
does  not  consider  himself  bound  by  his  promises  to 


590  MEMOIRS    OF 

the  unfaithful,  and  the  united  armies  treated  us,  it 
may  be  said,  as  the  Turks  might  have  done. 

The  discontent  on  one  side  and  on  the  other  was 
strong,  and  the  circumstance  of  Napoleon's  marriage, 
about  which  I  shall  speak  in  its  place,  envenomed  the 
already  strained  relations  between  France  and  Rus- 
sia. The  divergence  of  interests  of  these  two  powers, 
the  moral  obligation  under  which  France  seemed  to 
consider  herself  to  re-establish  the  kingdom  of  Po- 
land, Russia's  evident  hostility  towards  such  a  pro- 
ject, all  combined  to  conduct  the  Paris  and  St.  Peters- 
burg Cabinets,  through  a  series  of  alternating  squab- 
blings  and  patchings-up,  to  an  irreparable  and  open 
rupture. 

A  deputation  of  Hungarians  had  presented  itself  to 
the  Emperor  at  Schonbrunn  to  beg  him  to  take  Hun- 
gary under  his  protection  and  to  back  up  her  efforts 
to  separate  herself  from  Austria.  Napoleon  had  at 
the  time  conceived  the  project  of  placing  the  Grand- 
duke  of  Wurtzburg  on  the  imperial  throne,  but  made 
no  fixed  determination  on  the  subject.  The  Hungar- 
ian revolution  and  the  change  of  the  Austrian  succes- 
sion were  two  enterprises  which  might  have  led  him 
further  than  he  wished  to  go,  and  he  did  not  allow 
himself  to  be  drawn  on.  These  reasons  and  the  fact 
that  his  absence  had  already  been  too  greatly  pro- 
longed under  doubtful  circumstances,  prompted  him 
to  sign  the  peace  of  Vienna  which  he  did  with  but  lit- 
tle confidence  in  his  mind.  Napoleon  often  afterwards 
blamed  himself  for  his  fault  in  leaving  Austria  too 
strong  for  future  safety,  and  for  not  having  taken 
full  advantage  of  his  success  at  Austerlitz  when  he 
might  have  taken  or  have  annihilated  the  entire  Rus- 
sian and  Austrian  armies.  He  had  not  forgotten  that 
the  Austrians  had  asked  for  peace  twelve  years  ear- 
lier, when  the  French  were  at  Leoben,  that  whilst  he 


NAPOLEON    I.  '  591 

was  in  Eg\"pt  Austria  had  taken  up  arms  af2:ain.  that 
she  only  signed  the  treaty  of  Luneville  after  having 
lost  the  battle  of  Hohenlinden,  that  she  had  begun 
war  again  as  soon  as  she  had  seen  us  seriously  en- 
gaged in  making  preparations  for  the  expedition  to 
England,  that  she  had  only  signed  the  peace  of  Vi- 
enna after  the  battle  of  Austerlitz.  that  Emperor 
Francis  had  promised  at  the  interview  at  Sar-Uschitz 
not  to  make  war  on  France  again,  that  this  time  Aus- 
tria had  once  more  hoped  to  surprise  Napoleon  taken 
up  with  the  pursuit  of  the  English  army  in  the  re- 
motest parts  of  Spain,  and  that  it  was  only  after 
Vienna  had  been  occupied  a  second  time  that  the  Aus- 
trian Government  resigned  itself  to  signing  peace. 

The  English,  on  their  side,  seeing  the  Emperor  seri- 
ously engaged  in  Germany  and  encouraged  by  the 
hope  that  the  consequences  of  the  battle  of  Essling 
would  cause  him  serious  embarrassments,  attempted 
an  expedition  into  the  island  of  Walcheren,  not  in- 
deed to  serve  their  ally's  cause  but  with  the  very  Eng- 
lish object  in  view  of  seizing  upon  the  fleet  at  Ant- 
werp and  of  setting  fire  to  it.  and  of  destroying 
the  dockyards.  Napoleon"s  foresight  had  assured  the 
defence  of  this  immense  dockyard  of  our  navy.  At 
the  first  report  of  the  invasion  of  the  island  of  Wal- 
cheren, every  class  of  citizen  in  the  neighbouring  pro- 
vinces was  aroused.  Without  awaiting  orders  from 
the  Minister  of  War.  men,  horses,  carriages,  provi- 
sions, and  fodder  were  ofTered  to  the  functionaries 
of  State,  who  had  no  difficulty  in  making  a  regular 
use  of  the  same:  the  national  guards  hurried  up.  Mar- 
shal Bernadottc  had  been  deprived  of  the  command  of 
the  9th  corps  of  which  he  was  the  leader  in  Germany. 
The  Emperor  had  sent  him  back  to  France  on  the  pre- 
tence of  taking  a  cure  at  the  waters.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  the  ICmperor  had  been  seriously  displeased  with 


592  •  MEMOIRS    OF 

him,  because  of  his  insubordinate  and  violent  char- 
acter, his  boasting,  and  the  order  of  the  day  by  which 
he  arrogated  to  himself  the  right  of  attributing  the 
victory  of  the  battle  of  Wagram  to  the  Saxons  who 
were  a  part  of  his  corps,  whilst  in  his  letters  he  used 
to  complain  about  their  want  of  vigour  and  inactivity. 
This  Marshal,  well  knowing  that  Napoleon  would  not 
have  selected  him  to  face  the  English,  greedily  seized 
upon  the  opportunity  to  impose  and  render  himself 
indispensable,  in  spite  of  the  Emperor,  on  this  occa- 
sion. Helped  by  his  friend  Fouche,  who  said  that 
Napoleon  must  be  shown  that  the  territory  could  be 
defended  and  the  enemy  driven  out,  without  his  help, 
Bernadotte  succeeded  in  getting  himself  sent  to  Ant- 
werp by  the  Minister  of  War.  The  English  expedi- 
tion had  already  failed  in  its  object  at  the  time  of 
his  arrival,  but  King  Louis  of  Holland,  who  had  un- 
dertaken the  command  of  the  operations  out  of  zeal, 
seeing  Bernadotte  arrive,  without  having  received  any 
notice  that  he  was  being  sent  to  take  over  the  com- 
mand in  chief,  returned  to  Amsterdam  in  a  very  dis- 
satisfied state  of  mind.  Bernadotte  made  a  great  deal 
of  noise,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  did  nothing  more  than 
Marshals  Kellerman!\  Moncey,  and  Bessieres  who 
were  very  little  talked  about.  The  zeal  of  the  officers 
of  all  branches  of  the  service,  the  bravery  of  the  troops 
and  above  all  the  devotion  of  the  national  guard  and 
of  the  inhabitants,  the  vigorous  measures  ordered 
from  Schonbrunn  by  the  Emperor,  and  finally  the  ut- 
ter incapacity  of  the  English  commander  caused  the 
total  failure  of  this  gigantic  enterprise.  The  English 
expedition  forced  to  retire  pitifully  lost  about  a  third 
of  its  men  and  its  material.  The  unlucky  issue  of  this 
important  attempt  brought  with  it  the  fall  of  the  Eng- 
lish Ministry.  Each  minister  tried  to  discharge  him- 
self of  the  responsibility,  and  to  shift  it  on  to  another 


NAPOLEON    1.  593 

of  his  colleagues,  a  denouement  which  reminds  one  of 
Racine's  epigram  on  the  subject  of  the  tragedy  of 
Iphigenia  the  authorship  of  which  two  writers,  Le- 
clerc  and  Coras,  claimed, 

*'  But  as  soon  as  the  piece  had  appeared, 
"  Neither  one  nor  the  other  wished  to  have  had 

anything  to  do  with  it." 

I  will  allude,  in  connection  with  this  campaign,  to 
the  solicitude  with  which  the  Emperor  insisted  that 
his  regiments  should  be  commanded  by  brave  and 
well-educated  officers.  The  proposals  for  advance- 
ment were  submitted  to  him  by  the  Minister  of  War. 
Napoleon  charged  one  of  his  aides-de-camp,  the  one 
whom  he  considered  best  suited  for  work  of  this  kind, 
to  submit  the  results  of  this  classification  for  his  sig- 
nature, and  weighed  each  candidate's  merits.  As  he 
was  personally  acquainted  with  each  officer,  his  selec- 
tions were  carried  out  with  discernment.  Whilst  with 
the  army  or  when  the  various  corps  were  passing 
through  Paris,  the  Emperor  used  to  hold  frequent 
reviews,  which  were  not  mere  empty  parades.  He 
used  to  cross-examine  officers  whom  he  did  not  know 
and  would  invite  them  to  command  and  carry  out 
manoeuvres  under  his  eyes.  The  manceuvres  which 
were  not  in  the  usual  routine  used  sometimes  to  trou- 
ble the  officers  who  had  made  a  special  study  of  their 
profession.  Napoleon  obliged  the  officers  with  whom 
he  was  not  altogether  satisfied  to  study  these  man- 
oeuvres, placing  them  under  the  supervision  of  the 
colonels  and  generals  in  command.  He  missed  no 
opportunity  to  assure  himself  that  they  had  profited 
by  this  completion  of  their  military  education. 

Often  whilst  reviewing  a  corps  d'armcc  or  even  on 
the  field  of  battle  the  Emperor  would  pull  u[)  in  front 


594  MEMOIRS    OF 

of  a  regiment  and  calling  the  officers  around  him 
would  address  each  by  his  name.  He  would  ask  them 
to  mention  whom  amongst  them  they  considered  most 
worthy  of  promotion  or  of  a  decoration,  and  then 
passed  on  to  the  soldiers.  Such  testimony  delivered 
by  the  peers  bound  the  various  regiments  together 
with  the  bonds  of  confidence  and  esteem,  and  these 
promotions,  granted  by  the  soldiers  themselves,  had 
all  the  more  value  in  their  eyes.  In  the  course  of 
one  of  these  distributions  of  military  rewards,  which 
were  like  family  scenes,  an  under-officer  was  desig- 
nated to  the  Emperor  as  the  bravest  and  the  best. 
The  colonel  whilst  agreeing  that  he  possessed  all  the 
qualities  necessary  to  make  a  good  officer  added 
that  in  rendering  him  this  justice,  he  regretted  that 
on  account  of  a  serious  drawback  he  was  unable  to 
recommend  him  for  promotion.  "  What  is  it  ?  "  asked 
Napoleon  quickly. — "  Sire,  he  can  neither  read  nor 
write."  *'  I  appoint  him  officer,  colonel,  you  will  have 
him  admitted  as  such." 

During  these  reviews  Napoleon  used  to  inform  him- 
self of  the  wants  of  the  soldiers,  of  the  state  of  their 
accoutrements  and  equipments,  of  the  quality  of  the 
rations  and  finally  of  the  way  in  which  the  military 
regulations  were  carried  out.  Each  soldier  was  au- 
thorized to  leave  the  ranks  and  to  address  himself  di- 
rectly to  the  Emperor,  presenting  arms,  to  submit  a 
demand  or  to  make  a  complaint.  No  request  was  ever 
neglected  but  was  immediately  answered.  If  the  pe- 
titioner was  worthy  of  interest  his  request  was  usually 
granted,  unless  it  was  of  a  nature  to  render  an  inquiry 
necessary.  There  is  perhaps  no  example  that  indis- 
creet or  unfounded  complaints  were  ever  addressed 
to  the  Emperor  in  this  way. 

In  the  course  of  one  of  the  reviews  which  he  held 
at  Vienna  Napoleon  heard  that  certain  regiments  had 


NAPOLEON    I.  595 

received  defective  articles  of  clothing  or  of  equipment, 
and  that  embezzlement  had  taken  place  in  the  supply 
of  provisions  and  fodder.  As  information  had  been 
laid  with  him  on  this  subject,  he  ordered  that  an 
inquiry  should  be  held.  The  report  having  established 
that  these  complaints  were  well-founded  Napoleon 
sent  the  papers  to  a  court-martial  before  wiiom  the 
culprits  were  brought  for  trial.  They  were  con- 
demned to  death.  The  Emperor  rejected  all  pleas  for 
pardon,  for  he  wished  to  make  an  example.  This  act 
of  severity  acted  as  a  warning  to  other  delinquents. 
I  remember  in  this  couiiection  that  one  day  the 
Emperor  entered  his  work-room  in  an  excited  state: 
*'  Just  imagine."  he  said  to  me,  "  that  I  have  just  put 
my  hand  upon  a  man  who  robbed  the  army  in  Italy 
in  a  disgraceful  manner.  He  had  protectors  under 
the  Directoire,  who  assured  him  of  impunity.  Thanks 
to  God  I  have  found  him  again,  and  I  mean  to  make 

a  severe  example  of  him."     The  said  F had  been 

a  contractor  for  provisions  during  the  first  campaigns 
in  Italy  at  the  time  when  General  Bonaparte  w  as  com- 
manding the  army.  His  conduct  had  given  rise  to 
the  most  serious  complaints  and  he  had  been  de- 
nounced to  the  Directoire  as  guilty  of  malversations 
and  infidelities  in  the  supply  of  provisions.  This  con- 
tractor had  escaped  all  prosecution,  and  since  that 
time  Napoleon  had  heard  nothing  more  about  him. 
I  do  not  know  in  what  way  he  was  put  on  the  scent 
of  his  re-appearance.  He  dictated  me  an  order  for 
his  examination  and  confinement.  But  be  it  that  this 
individual  found  the  means  of  evading  the  vigilance 
of  the  authorities,  or  that  Napoleon  recoiled  before 
the  scandal  of  a  trial  in  which  people  whom  he  did  not 

want  to  ruin  might  be  compromi.sed,  F once  more 

escaped  all  punishment.  My  object  is  to  show  that  Na- 
poleon  really  objected  to  capital  sentences,  and   that 


596  MEMOIRS    OF 

his  personal  inclinations  prompted  him  to  clemency, 
a  virtue  which  in  his  case  often  resembled  arbitrari- 
ness. 

An  event  of  the  highest  importance  which  occurred 
during  the  Austrian  campaign  was  the  forcible  re- 
moval of  the  Pope  from  Rome.  Apart  from  the  ques- 
tions which  concerned  the  discipline  of  the  Church, 
other  discussions,  which  were  to  be  brought  to  ex- 
ploding point  by  the  clash  of  temporal  and  political 
interests,  had  placed  fresh  stormclouds  between  the 
Emperor  and  the  Pope.  Since  the  Holy  Father's  re- 
turn to  Rome  the  enemies  of  France  had  worked  upon 
Pius'  vexation  at  not  having  brought  back  with  him 
from  France  certain  concessions  to  which  he  consid- 
ered his  condescension  had  entitled  him.  However  it 
might  be,  Rome  had  become  a  hotbed  of  intrigues 
against  the  empire.  The  influence  of  our  enemies,  and 
notably  of  England,  predominated  there.  Summoned 
by  Napoleon  to  close  his  ports  upon  the  English  vessels 
which  were  cruising  in  the  Adriatic,  the  Pope  had  re- 
plied with  a  formal  refusal,  alleging  that  as  the  com- 
mon father  of  all  the  faithful  he  could  not  and  should 
not  enter  into  any  league  against  any  one  of  his  chil- 
dren. This  answer  gave  rise  to  interminable  corre- 
spondence, which  first  of  all  tended  towards  a  recon- 
ciliation, then  became  menacing  on  the  Emperor's 
part,  whilst  on  the  part  of  the  Pope  it  remained  ob- 
stinate, invariably  negative,  and  bearing  the  imprint 
of  the  ideas  of  the  Gregories  and  Bonifaces,  written 
in  a  language  which  was  not  that  of  the  century.  This 
language  irritated  the  Emperor's  patience,  who  saw 
each  of  his  requests  rejected  by  the  Pope  from  whom 
he  was  able  to  obtain  nothing.  The  discontent  of  the 
Roman  Court  against  Napoleon  blinded  this  govern- 
ment to  the  inequality  of  the  struggle  and  increased 


NAPOLEON    I.  597 

in  proportion  to  the  impotent  resistance  which  it  op- 
posed to  this  redoubtable  ad\ersary.  One  might  have 
said  that  the  Court  of  Rome  wished  to  carry  matters 
to  extremes  and  to  defy  the  Emperor.  Napoleon  then 
gave  orders  that  Rome  should  be  occupied,  without 
any  interference  in  the  affairs  of  the  pontifical  govern- 
ment and  with  the  greatest  consideration  for  the  Holy 
Father  and  his  Court.  This  violent  measure  provoked 
the  irritation  of  the  Pope's  counsellors  to  its  extreme 
limits.  The  Papal  Nuncio,  immediately  recalled  to 
Rome  from  Paris,  received  orders  to  leave  without 
taking  conge.  Rome  raised  its  temporal  and  spiritual 
arms  against  France.  The  French  General,  in  com- 
mand in  Rome,  received  orders  in  his  turn  to  seize 
upon  the  government  without  interfering  with  the 
Pope  in  spiritual  matters  and  to  take  measures  for 
preserving  the  tranquillity  of  the  country.  The  state 
of  hostility  became  bitter.  The  Pope,  having  issued 
the  bull  of  excommunication  which  he  held  in  reserve, 
shut  himself  up  in  his  palace,  round  wdiicli  barricades 
protected  by  armed  men  were  placed.  The  agitation 
amongst  the  Roman  population  increased  when  lying 
reports  had  spread  the  rumour  of  the  critical  position 
in  which,  as  it  was  said,  the  French  army,  found  it- 
self placed  in  consequence  of  the  battle  of  Essling. 
The  open  opposition  of  the  partisans  of  the  Holy  See 
became  dangerous  for  the  French  occupation  of 
Rome.  A  collision  was  to  be  feared  which  might 
place  the  person  of  Pius  VII.  in  danger.  The  Pontiff, 
obstinately  persisting  in  his  voluntary  captivity,  deaf 
to  the  demands  of  the  Governor-General,  remained 
unable  to  calm  the  effervescence  of  the  public  mind. 
This  functionary  accordingly  took  it  upon  himself  to 
remove  the  Pope  from  Rome,  and  in  the  night  of 
July  6th — 7th  the  Pope  was  kidnapped  in  his  palace. 
Whilst  this  extreme  measure  was  being  carried  into 


598  MEMOIRS    OF 

effect  the  Emperor  was  on  the  plains  of  Wagram.  The 
ever-increasing  obstinacy  of  the  Pope  in  refusing 
what  the  Emperor  asked  of  him,  must  have  made  Na- 
poleon foresee  that  circumstances  might  arise  which 
would  make  such  an  act  of  violence  necessary.  Napo- 
leon, however,  denied  ever  having  given  any  order 
for  kidnapping  the  Pope.  He  would  have  wished  the 
Pope  not  to  leave  Italy  so  brusquely.  But  the  Grand- 
duchess  of  Tuscany  and  the  Governor-General  of 
Piedmont,  who  had  received  no  instructions  in  this 
matter  refused  to  receive  the  Holy  Father  either  at 
Florence  or  Turin.  The  Emperor  did  not  wish  to 
disavow  the  governor  of  Rome  and  could  not  and  did 
not  wish  to  send  the  Pope  back  to  the  capital.  He  ac- 
cordingly gave  orders  that  the  Pope  should  be  con- 
ducted to  Savona,  since  he  had  passed  Florence  and 
Turin  when  this  order  reached  its  destination.  The 
Pope,  who  was  lodged  in  Savona  in  the  bishop's 
palace,  was  treated  with  the  necessary  respect  and 
dignity. 

A  general  distribution  of  promotions  and  rewards 
took  place  after  the  battle  of  Wagram,  on  the  Em- 
peror's feast-day,  which  was  celebrated  at  Vienna  in 
all  the  army  corps.  The  three  principalities  of  Wa- 
gram, Essling,  and  Eckmuehl  were  created  in  favour 
of  Marshals  Berthier,  Massena,  and  Davout.  The 
dignity  of  Marshal,  as  we  have  related  was,  moreover 
conferred  on  Generals  Macdonald,  Oudinot,  and  Mar- 
mont  and  the  duchies  of  Gaete,  Cadore,  Otranto, 
Massa,  Bassano  and  Feltra  were  given  to  Ministers 
Gaudin,  Champagny,  Fouche,  Regnier,  Maret,  and 
Clarke. 

At  the  same  time  the  Emperor  issued  a  decree 
creating  an  Order  of  the  Three  Golden  Fleeces.  Napo- 
leon, whilst  increasing  his  means  for  rewarding  his 


NAPOLEON    I.  599 

brave  soldiers,  wished  to  eclipse  the  rival  orders  of 
the  Golden  Fleece  which  existed  simultaneously  in 
Spain  and  Austria  and  to  resuscitate  the  order  as  it 
had  originally  been  founded  by  Philip  the  Good,  Duke 
of  Burgundy.  He  hoped  by  means  of  this  competition 
with  tiie  Spanish  and  Austrian  orders  to  annihilate  the 
latter  in  course  of  time.  All  French  subjects  would 
be  forbidden  to  accept  the  orders  of  these  two  powers. 
The  reunion  of  the  conditions  necessary  for  admis- 
sion into  the  order  of  the  Three  Fleeces  would  have 
given  the  French  order  pre-eminence  over  the  order 
of  the  Legion  of  Honour.  In  spite  of  the  publication 
of  the  decree  of  institution  concerning  this  creation, 
nobody  was  appointed  to  the  new  order.  Whatever 
may  have  been  Napoleon's  reasons  for  abandoning  his 
first  idea  on  this  subject,  tlie  fact  remains  that  he  never 
spoke  of  it  again.  Another  decree  ordered  the  erec- 
tion of  an  obelisk  in  Cherburg  granite  on  the  tcrrc- 
plcin  of  the  Pont-Neuf,  in  Paris,  bearing  the  inscrip- 
tion:  "  Napoleon  to  the  French  People."  The  prin- 
cipal feats  of  arms  of  the  two  campaigns  of  Jena  and 
Poland  were  to  be  represented  in  bas-reliefs  on  the 
pedestal. 

The  Emperor  made  a  mistake  one  day  whicli  might 
have  had  consequences  untimely  rather  than  dangerous, 
h  was  at  Schonbrunn,  if  1  remember  rightly,  after 
the  signing  of  the  peace  with  Austria,  Napoleon  had 
written  to  the  Emperor  of  Russia  and  to  the  Emperor 
of  Austria  at  the  same  time.  He  wanted,  as  a  pastime, 
to  place  their  letters  in  their  envelopes,  which  were 
ready  addressed  for  the  purpose,  with  his  own  hands. 
After  having  sealed  up  one  he  carried  it  to  the  Aus- 
trian general  who  was  waiting  for  the  letter  addressed 
to  his  sovereign.  Before  sealing  up  the  other  I  took 
the  precaution  of  looking  at  the  envelope  and  noticed 
that  it  was  addressed  to  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  the 


6oo  MEMOIRS  OF 

letter  addressed  to  this  prince  had  been  placed  in  the 
envelope  to  the  Emperor  of  Russia.  A  messenger 
was  immediately  sent  off  at  full  speed  after  the  Aus- 
trian officer,  who  was  carrying  off  the  letter  intended 
for  the  Czar.  This  qtdd  pro  quo,  might,  had  it  been 
repeated,  have  occurred  under  circumstances  which 
might  have  had  evil  consequences.  The  Emperor 
saw  this  and  become  so  circumspect  that  whenever 
he  was  tempted  to  close  up  some  letter  on  which  he 
put  his  beautiful  seals  with  his  own  hands,  he  used  to 
throw  it  away  saying  that  he  had  been  near  placing 
me  under  some  heavy  responsibility. 

One  day  at  Schonbrunn,  a  lady  in  mourning,  ac- 
companied by  two  young  children  came  to  ask  for  a 
pardon  which  the  Emperor  was  forced  to  refuse.  This 
is  what  had  caused  this  person's  visit.  A  Mrs.  Dom- 
bray  or  Combray — of  Caen — had  associated  her- 
self with  certain  people  of  good  family,  who  were 
committing  acts  of  brigandage  of  which  the  whole 
country  complained,  but  who  had  the  pretension  of 
continuing  the  Vendee  by  robbing  travellers  and  stage- 
coaches. This  lady  shared  the  spoils  which  were 
carried  to  the  country-house  which  she  lived  in  on  the 
side  of  the  road,  with  the  thieves.  Napoleon  had  given 
the  strictest  orders  for  the  repression  of  these  criminal 
attempts  against  public  safety  which  were  filling  the 
department  with  consternation.  Madame  de  Com- 
bray, arrested,  had  been  found  guilty  and  was  con- 
demned. A  respite  was  granted  her  because  the  idea 
had  been  suggested  to  her  to  declare  herself  enceinte. 
In  spite  of  the  fact  that  this  plea  was  known  to  be  false, 
this  lady  took  advantage  of  the  respite  to  have  her 
pardon  prayed  for.  The  Emperor,  taken  by  surprise, 
having  received  no  report  on  the  appeal  for  mercy,  nor 
any  document  which  might  help  him  to  form  an  opin- 
ion, complained  bitterly  that  the  Ministers  of  Police 


NAPOLEON    I.  6oi 

should  grant  passports  which  enabled  people  to  come 
and  take  him  by  surprise  at  four  hundred  leagues  from 
Paris  leaving  to  him  all  the  odium  of  refusing  a  par- 
don which  he  was  not  in  a  position  to  grant.  An  ex- 
ample moreover  was  necessary.  He  expressed  to  the 
relation  of  the  sentenced  woman,  all  his  regret  that 
she  should  have  had  to  undertake  so  hard  a  journey 
in  vain.  He  told  her  that  his  Alinistcr  had  supplied 
him  with  no  information,  adding  that  the  nature  of  the 
crime  in  question  did  not,  unfortunately,  put  it  in  his 
power  to  use  his  right  of  pardon.  Pie  concluded  with 
a  few  words  which  showed  the  compulsion  he  was 
putting  upon  himself,  and  gave  orders  that  his  peti- 
tioner should  be  well  treated.  I  quote  this  anecdote 
because  people  have  tried  to  use  it  as  a  pretext  for 
accusing  Napoleon  of  inhumanity.  The  reader  must 
decide  on  the  point  himself. 

During  Napoleon's  stay  in  Vienna,  the  inhabitants 
were  the  victims  of  a  famine  which  was  caused  by  the 
action  of  the  Austrian  authorities  in  forbidding  any 
provisions  to  be  sent  into  the  town,  because  the  French 
soldiers  would  have  made  use  of  them.  A  deputation, 
which  the  Emperor  had  authorized  to  visit  the  Em- 
peror of  Austria  to  obtain  the  recall  of  his  order,  had 
returned  without  obtaining  any  immediate  satisfac- 
tion. Napoleon,  touched  by  the  distress  of  the  Vien- 
nese, paid  a  visit  to  the  suburbs  and,  together  with  the 
Intendant  General  of  the  army,  took  measures  for 
diminishing  the  sufferings  of  the  inhabitants.  The 
winter  coming  on,  he  authorized  the  poor  of  Vienna  to 
help  themselves  to  wood  in  the  imperial  forests.  We 
saw  files  of  people  passing  loaded  with  stacks  of  wood 
which  they  had  cut  in  these  forests,  for  several  days. 
Napoleon  tried  to  preserve  i)eople,  as  far  as  lay  in 
his  jKAvcr,  from  the  evils  of  war. 

In   1809,  the  Emperor  had  again   fallen  in  with  at 


6o2  MEMOIRS    OF 

Vienna,  the  celebrated  singer  Crescentini,  who  had 
been  the  delight  of  the  Italian  theatres.  He  remem- 
bered with  pleasure,  that  formerly  at  Milan  Crescen- 
tini had  sung  cantatas  intended  to  glorify  the  triumphs 
of  the  French  army.  Although  this  clever  singer  was 
no  longer  a  young  man.  Napoleon  attached  him  to  the 
imperial  orchestra  and  sent  him  to  Paris  with  a 
salary  of  thirty  thousand  francs.  From  this  time  on, 
Crescentini  gave  up  singing  on  the  stage.  When  age 
and  infirmities  had  weakened  his  voice,  the  Emperor 
appointed  him  professor  to  the  Bologna  conservatory, 
where  he  was  ordered  to  write  a  book  on  the  laws  of 
his  art.  At  the  same  time  Napoleon  created  him  a 
knight  of  the  Order  of  the  Iron  Crown.  It  was  not 
only  with  a  view  of  rewarding  his  musical  merit  that 
the  Emperor  accorded  him  this  distinction  to  which 
his  title  of  professor  gave  him  a  claim.  In  decorating 
Crescentini,  Napoleon  had  another  purpose  and  was 
trying  an  experiment,  for  he  wished  to  decorate  Talma 
with  the  Legion  of  Honour.  A  foreign  distinction 
awarded  to  a  professor  of  singing  in  Italy,  the  classical 
home  of  music,  a  favour  justified  by  superior  merit, 
was  likely  to  excite  less  opposition  there  than  in  France. 
At  the  same  time  this  nomination  was  generally  criti- 
cized in  Italy  and  the  Emperor  was  forced  to  admit 
that  great  as  was  his  power,  it  had  its  limits.  Napoleon 
saw  himself  forced  to  draw  back  before  this  manifes- 
tation of  public  opinion,  but  he  regretted  that  this 
scruple,  praiseworthy  in  its  principle,  prevented  him 
from  honouring  a  great  artist  like  Talma,  who  was 
endowed  with  unrivalled  talents  and  whom  he  held  in 
high  esteem. 

Corvisart,  first  doctor  to  the  Emperor,  came  to 
Paris  during  the  1809  campaign.  His  presence  at 
head-quarters  gave  rise  to  the  belief  that  Napoleon  was 
dangerously   ill,    a   circumstance    which    specially   at- 


NAPOLEON    I.  603 

tracted  the  attention  of  the  Enghsh  Government.  Cor- 
visart's  journey  had  not  been  caused  alone  by  a  shght 
indisposition  on  the  Emperor's  part,  caused  by  the  fa- 
tigues of  the  campaign,  but  which  neither  prevented 
him  from  riding  on  horseback  nor  from  holding  re- 
views. The  doctor,  impelled  by  curiosity  and  the  inter- 
ests of  science  had  asked  permission  on  his  side  to 
come  to  Vienna.  He  wished  to  visit  the  medical  estab- 
lishments of  this  capital  and  to  make  the  acquaintance 
of  the  celebrated  Doctor  Franck  who  was  first  doctor  to 
the  Emperor  of  Austria.  Numerous  cases  of  dysen- 
tery having  declared  themselves  in  the  army  which  it 
was  feared  might  degenerate  into  an  epidemic,  Cor- 
visart's  advice  became  very  desirable.  I  remember 
that  the  Emperor  jested  the  doctor  on  a  danger  to 
which  the  latter  had  exposed  himself  whilst  visiting 
the  battle-field  of  Wagram,  where,  it  is  said,  he  ap- 
proached a  shell  which,  though  the  battle  had  taken 
place  several  days  before,  had  not  yet  been  extin- 
guished. 

Immediately  after  signing  peace  Napoleon  left 
Schonbrunn  to  return  to  France.  Before  leaving  he 
gave  orders  that  the  fortifications  of  Vienna  should  be 
destroyed.  He  remembered  how  he  had  been  twice 
stopped  before  the  walls  of  this  capital  and.  pre-occu- 
pied  with  the  idea  that  he  might  have  to  come  there  a 
third  time,  thought  of  the  serious  embarrassment 
which  an  energetic  defence  of  the  city  might  cause  him. 
Such  threatening  leave-taking  struck  dismay  into  the 
hearts  of  the  Viennese,  who  considered  themselves 
humiliated  by  a  precaution,  which,  ordered  after  peace 
had  been  signed,  appeared  to  them  to  be  dictated  by  a 
spirit  of  revenge  and  rancour. 

Napoleon  went  to  await  the  Emperor  of  Austria's 
ratification  of  the  peace  at  Nymi)henburg,  where  he 
spent  two  days,  and  took  leave  of  the  King  of  Bavaria 


6o4  MEMOIRS    OF 

after  having  received  this  ratification.  He  stopped  one 
day  at  Stuttgart,  passed  through  Strasburg  without 
stopping  and  spent  some  hours  at  Jeand'heures,  near 
Bar,  under  Marshal  Oudinot's  roof.  On  October  29th 
the  Emperor  arrived  at  Fontainebleau  at  nine  in  the 
morning,  without  having  been  announced.  Empress 
Josephine,  not  having  been  told  in  time,  was  not  there 
to  receive  him.  Napoleon  made  this  a  pretext  for  show- 
ing some  bad  temper.  He  seemed  to  wish  to  prelude 
the  painful  declaration  which  it  was  in  his  mind  to 
make  by  some  subject  for  discontent.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  his  mind  was  fully  made  up  on  his  divorce  from 
Josephine.  He  prepared  himself  exclusively  for  it 
whilst  at  Fontainebleau  where  for  three  weeks  he 
held  a  large  and  brilliant  court. 

On  his  return  to  Paris,  on  November  l6th,  Napo- 
leon heard  that  the  ex-Oueen  of  Etruria,  who  had  re- 
tired to  Nice,  with  her  son,  a  young  child,  on  the  pre- 
text of  ill-health,  was  giving  herself  up  to  intrigues 
of  all  kinds.  She  used  to  wTite  to  the  English 
Prince  Regent  to  offer  to  employ  her  influence  with  the 
Spanish  prisoners  in  cantonment  in  the  depots  in  the 
South  of  France.  She  wrote  to  this  Prince  of  the  em- 
barrassment which  her  presence  in  Spain  would  cause 
to  the  French.  The  ex-Queen  was  mistaking  matters. 
There  was  danger  for  her  alone.  The  Emperor,  not 
wishing  to  leave  an  element  of  disturbance  which 
might  add  fresh  complications  to  the  state  of  affairs  in 
Spain,  in  the  hands  of  the  English,  gave  orders  that 
she  should  be  conducted  to  Rome.  She  was  placed 
in  a  convent  of  which  a  Princess  of  Parma,  her  rela- 
tion, was  the  abbess.  Napoleon  informed  King 
Charles  IV.,  at  that  time  in  residence  at  Marseilles, 
of  what  had  happened,  and  pointed  out  to  him  what 
steps  had  been,  as  a  measure  of  prudence,  rendered 
necessary  by  his  daughter's  ill-considered  conduct. 


NAPOLEON    I.  605 

Before  approaching  the  great  event  of  the  Em- 
peror's marriage  and  divorce,  it  may  be  well  to  pass  in 
rapid  survey  the  state  of  our  affairs  in  the  Spanish 
peninsula.  Austria's  declaration  of  war,  in  forcing 
Napoleon  to  leave  Spain,  had  served  the  coalition  bet- 
ter than  the  untimely  rising  of  the  Spaniards.  Na- 
poleon's absence  was  sadly  felt  in  the  Peninsula,  where 
our  military  operations  were  characterized  by  a  want 
of  ensemble  and  harmony.  Brilliant  successes  had  been 
achieved  but  had  not  been  folloued  by  any  decisive 
results.  A  want  of  unity  in  the  command  and  the  dis- 
sensions of  the  Marshals  amongst  themselves  pre- 
vented the  fruits  of  these  victories  from  being 
gathered  in.  To  remedy  this  bad  state  of  affairs,  Na- 
poleon replaced  Marshal  Jourdan  in  the  functions  of 
major  general  to  King  Joseph,  by  Marshal  Soult.  who 
was  younger  and  had  more  experience  in  making  war 
in  the  Emperor's  own  fashion.  As  to  Portugal,  she 
had  been  abandoned.  Military  operations  were  being 
carried  on  with  more  success  on  the  East.  General 
Suchet,  appointed  commander  of  the  army  of  Aragon, 
had  restored  discipline,  abundance,  and  victory.  The 
taking  of  the  fortified  places  of  Aragon  and  Catalonia 
and  the  occupation  of  Valentia  won  this  general  the 
baton  of  Marshal  and  the  title  of  Duke  of  Albufera. 
It  is  sad  to  have  to  add  that  Ferdinand,  on  hearing 
of  the  victories  whichi  had  been  gained  over  his  coun- 
trymen, who  formerly  had  been  his  subjects,  addressed 
to  the  Emperor,  m  his  and  his  brother's  names,  the 
most  obsequious  congratulations,  couched  in  the  most 
humble  expressions  and  protested  his  sincere  respect 
for  and  blinrl  submission  to  the  imperial  will. 


CHAPTER    IX 

INCE  1792  Europe  had  been  making  war  on 
France — a  war  of  extermination — and  France 
had  come  forth  victorious.  The  bitterness  of 
her  enemies,  far  from  crushing  her,  had  rendered  her 
great  and  powerful.  The  Emperor  thought  that  a 
marriage  with  a  foreign  Princess  would  calm  the 
anxiety  of  the  powers;  which  would  then  no  longer 
have  reason  to  fear  revolutionary  propaganda;  that 
this  tie  would  enforce  the  acknowledgement  of  his 
glory;  would  diminish  the  dangers  of  the  retrocessions 
which  France  would  be  obliged  to  make  when  univer- 
sal peace  was  established,  and  in  one  word,  would 
become  the  means  of  a  lasting  peace.  He  foresaw 
also  that  the  want  of  a  natural  heir  would  after  his 
death  hand  the  empire  over  to  rival  ministers,  as  had 
formerly  happened  to  the  Empire  left  by  Alexander 
the  Great.  Nevertheless,  Napoleon  hesitated  for  a 
long  time  before  breaking  the  union  which  was  en- 
deared to  him  by  long  standing  and  true  attachment. 
Politics,  the  future  peace  of  the  world,  imperiously 
commanded  the  accomplishment  of  his  design.  His 
Ige  forbade  him  from  longer  hesitation.  Some  have 
iaid  that  he  was  prompted  by  the  vain  desire  to  mix 
his  blood  with  that  of  the  royal  houses;  but  it  may 
be  asked  what  reasons  he  had  to  envy  them,  either  in 
greatness  or  in  genius,  or  in  power.  If  vanity  there 
was  in  his  action,  if  in  this  matter  Napoleon  showed 
himself  open  to  human  weaknesses,  it  had  very  little 
voice  in  determining  his  resolution.  The  assiduity 
with  which  the  ruling  families  in  Europe  sought  af- 
ter an  alliance  with  him  by  marriage  did  not  raise  the 

606 


NAPOLEOX    I.  607 

merit  and  value  of  such  an  alliance  in  his  eyes,  though 
it  was  a  further  guarantee  of  the  advantages  which 
he  looked  for  from  it. 

Some  time  previously  Fouche  had  taken  the  oppor- 
tunity, without  being  authorized  to  do  so,  to  approach 
Empress  Josephine  on  the  necessity  of  a  divorce,  and 
to  spread  the  report  that  a  divorce  w-as  imminent. 
Napoleon  had  severely  reprimanded  him,  not  only  be- 
cause he  had  come  to  no  definite  decision  on  the  sub- 
ject himself,  but  because  he  was  anxious  to  spare  the 
unhappy  Princess  premature  grief,  and  did  not  wish 
to  leave  her  under  the  continual  menace  of  a  separa- 
tion which  was  painful  for  both. 

When,  on  his  return  from  Fontainebleau.  at  the 
end  of  1809,  Napoleon  had  made  up  his  mind  to  open 
this  serious  question,  he  allowed  the  Empress  to  sus- 
pect the  separation  which  he  was  planning,  only  a  few 
weeks  before  the  time  when  this  very  painful  sacri« 
fice  had  to  be  accomplished,  not  in  an  outspoken  man- 
ner, but  rather  by  dropping  hints  which  gave  her 
cause  for  reflection.  This  man.  whom  many  people 
have  long  considered  as  pitiless,  dreaded  tlie  sight 
of  tears  and  of  affliction,  against  which  as  a  matter 
of  fact  he  was  always  defenceless.  I  ha\e  often  seen 
him — after  certain  scenes  of  jealousy  caused  by  Jose- 
phine's suspicious  affection — so  troubled  that  he  would 
remain  for  hours  in  his  workroom  given  up  to  silent 
emotion,  and  unable  to  resume  his  work.  Napoleon 
had  retained  from  his  early  education,  family  feel- 
ings, and  simple  ways  of  life,  which  in  his  case  were 
united  with  the  highest  political  capacities. 

Since  the  interview  of  Erfurth,  time  had  matured 
Najx)leon's  project  of  a  divorce.  The  cordiality  which 
seemed  to  reign  between  the  Czar  and  himself  famil- 
iarized him  with  the  idea  that  a  family  alliance  would 
strengthen  between  them  the  intimacy  which  held  out 


6o8  MEMOIRS  OF 

the  prospect  of  great  advantages.  M.  de  Talleyrand 
asserts  that  he  was  commissioned  by  Napoleon  to 
sound  the  Emperor  Alexander  on  the  subject.  How- 
ever this  may  be  it  is  certain  that  in  the  course  of  one 
of  the  familiar  conversations  between  the  two  Em- 
perors at  Erfurth,  Alexander  offered  Napoleon  the 
hand  of  the  Grand-duchess  Anna.  Napoleon  bound 
himself  by  no  engagement,  but  he  had  felt  pleased  and 
flattered  by  this  offer,  which  remained  a  secret  between 
the  two  sovereigns. 

When,  towards  the  end  of  1809,  on  his  return  from 
the  Wagram  campaign,  Napoleon  made  public  his  de- 
cision to  seek  for  children  in  a  new  matrimonial  alli- 
ance, since  he  could  expect  no  posterity  from  his 
marriage  with  Josephine,  his  first  thoughts  were  for 
an  alliance  with  the  princess  of  the  Russian  Imperial 
House.  Whilst  commissioning  his  representative  in 
St.  Petersburg  to  approach  Emperor  Alexander  in  a 
confidential  manner  in  this  matter,  two  other  prin- 
cesses— one,  the  onl}^  daughter  of  the  King  of  Sax- 
ony, the  other,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Emperor  of 
Austria — were  in  his  mind.  Although  his  desire  to 
have  children  as  soon  as  possible  threw  weight  into 
the  scale  on  the  side  of  the  Princess  Augusta;  or 
Arch-duchess  Marie  Louise,  who  suited  him  better,  on 
account  of  her  age,  Napoleon  still  hesitated.  The 
agreement  of  his  political  views,  with  his  personal  in- 
clination for  Emperor  Alexander,  and  the  remem- 
brance of  the  offer  made  by  this  Prince  at  Erfurth, 
decided  him  to  take  up  again  the  proposal,  to  which 
he  had  given  no  definite  answer,  and  to  prefer  a  mar- 
riage with  a  Russian  Princess.  It  was  about  a  week 
after  the  minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  had  v/ritten  in 
a  confidential  manner  to  the  Duke  of  Vicence,  our 
minister  at  St.  Petersburg,  charging  him  to  open  the 
subject  of  the  marriage  in  a  categorical  manner  to 


NAPOLEON    T.  609 

Emperor  Alexander,  when  Napoleon  made  up  his 
mind  to  break  his  silence  towards  Empress  Josephine. 
The  minister's  letter  had  been  ciphered  by  himself, 
and  was  to  be  deciphered  by  the  Duke  de  Vicence 
alone.  Since  the  insinuations  made  two  years  before 
by  Fouche  to  the  Empress,  and  although  this  mis- 
chievous marplot  had  been  publicly  disavowed,  Jose- 
phine could  not  help  seeing  that,  sooner  or  later,  she 
would  have  to  pay  for  the  misfortune  of  not  having 
given  an  heir  to  Napoleon  with  the  loss  of  her  rank. 
It  was  the  general  topic  of  her  conversation,  either 
with  me,  from  whom  she  hoped  to  gather  some  in- 
formation, or  with  those  with  w'hom  she  could  speak 
in  confidence.  But  after  the  Emperor's  arrival  at 
Fontainebleau — where,  as  we  have  read,  he  returned 
after  the  W'agram  campaign — new  signs  confirmed 
her  suspicions,  and  made  her  foresee  that  the  storm 
might  break  at  any  moment.  An  unaccustomed  cold- 
ness, the  closing  of  the  doors  which  communicated 
between  their  two  apartments,  the  shortness  of  the 
rare  moments  which  the  Emperor  devoted  to  his  wife, 
certain  passing  outbursts  provoked  by  the  most  tri- 
fling causes,  which  troubled  this  family,  usually  so 
peaceful,  the  arrival  in  turn  of  the  allied  sovereigns 
whose  presence  she  was  not  able  to  understand,  in- 
spired the  Empress  Josephine  with  the  keenest  anxi- 
ety. So  cruelly  was  she  troubled  that  she  was  con- 
stantly applying  to  me.  T  could  only  answer  her  in 
an  evasive  way.  my  part  became  an  embarrassing  one. 
and  in  order  to  escape  from  the  unhappy  Princess's 
fjuestions.  I  was  obliged  to  avoid  her.  But  my  perse- 
verance in  escaping  from  what  T  may  call  her  impor- 
tunities appeared  to  her  more  significant  than  words, 
and  her  anxiety  reached  its  highest  pitch.  When  by 
hazard  she  was  able  to  keep  the  Emperor  with  her  for 
a  moment  she  did  not  dare  to  touch  on  this  question 


6io  MEMOIRS  OF 

for  fear  that  the  fatal  sentence  should  fall  from  his 
lips.  Such  a  state  of  things  could  not  be  greatly  pro- 
longed. Its  result  had  been  to  strain  the  relations  be- 
tween the  two  spouses  to  a  point  which  was  downright 
torture  for  both.  The  Emperor  was  at  last  unable  to 
bear  it  any  longer,  and  one  evening,  after  the  most 
silent  and  sorrowful  of  meals,  he  broke  the  ice.  It 
may  be  imagined  what  was  the  grief  and  despair  of  the 
Empress  Josephine  at  the  moment  when  her  last  hope 
was  taken  away.  Napoleon  freed  from  an  insupport- 
able load  was  deeply  touched  by  the  grief  which  he 
was  causing,  and  from  that  moment  never  ceased  to 
surround  her  with  every  care,  and  to  lavish  upon  her 
words  of  comfort,  which  Josephine  in  her  despair  at 
first  listened  to  with  indifference,  but  which  touched 
her  in  the  end.  Napoleon  sent  for  her  children  Hor- 
tense  and  Eugene,  and  committed  their  mother  to  their 
care,  assuring  them  of  the  continuance  of  his  paternal 
affection  and  protection.  After  having  calmed  the 
first  transports  of  her  grief,  Josephine  bore  her  sacri- 
fice with  a  force  of  character  of  which  one  might  not 
have  thought  her  capable,  and  resigned  herself  to  this 
misfortune  for  which  there  was  no  remedy.  From 
that  day  she  was  seen  no  more  at  court.  She,  how- 
ever, came  out  of  her  voluntary  retirement  on  two 
subsequent  occasions,  once  to  be  present  in  a  pew  at 
Notre  Dame  at  the  Te  Deurn  which  was  sung  for  the 
Peace  of  Vienna,  and  once  to  accompany  the  Emperor 
to  the  Mansion  House  to  the  fete  which  the  City  of 
Paris  gave  on  that  occasion.  With  the  exception  of 
these  two  circumstances  she  spent,  hiding  in  her  apart- 
ment, the  fortnight  which  passed  between  the  moment 
when  this  cruel  revelation  was  made  to  her,  and  the 
day  when  the  divorce  was  pronounced.  However 
painful  this  fortnight  must  have  been  for  both,  it 
seemed  a  terribly  short  time  to  Josephine,  who  could 


NAPOLEON    I.  6ii 

not  accustom  herself  to  the  idea  of  the  loss  of  her 
rank,  and  above  all  of  being  separated  from  Napoleon, 
whom  she  dearly  loved.  The  Emperor  soothed  the 
last  hours  of  their  married  life  by  acts  of  the  kindest 
consideration  and  respect,  caring  for  the  future  of  the 
wife  whom  he  was  leaving,  advising  her,  and  meeting 
her  every  wish. 

Josephine  had  an  irresistible  attraction.  She  was 
not  a  woman  of  regular  beauty  (she  had  that  grace 
which  is  more  beautiful  than  beauty's  self,  as  our  good 
La  Fontaine  used  to  say)  ;  she  had  the  soft  abandon, 
the  supple  and  elegant  movements,  the  graceful  negli- 
gence of  Creole  women.  Her  temper  was  always 
even.  Good,  and  kind,  she  was  affable  and  indulgent 
to  everybody  without  exception  of  persons.  She  was 
not  a  woman  of  a  superior  intellect,  but  her  exquisite 
politeness,  her  great  familiarity  with  society  and  court 
life  and  their  innocent  artifices,  always  taught  her  at 
a  moment's  notice  what  to  say  and  do. 

The  Emperor  had  loved  her  much,  and  retained  for 
her  a  feeling  of  affection  which  had  been  strength- 
ened by  custom  and  her  own  affectionate  qualities. 
One  would  have  said  that  she  was  born  for  the  part 
which  her  elevation  in  rank  at  Napoleon's  side  forced 
her  to  play.  The  partner  of  his  fortune,  she  had 
admirably  seconded  him  with  the  ascendency  of  her 
grace,  her  gentleness  and  her  goodness.  She  was  the 
wife  of  his  glory  as  much  as  the  wife  of  his  person, 
for  she  had  wedded  his  glory  as  much  as  she  had 
wedded  his  per.son.  Although  she  was  a  total  stranger 
to  politics  and  affairs  of  government  she  had,  as  far 
as  lay  in  her  power,  won  over  to  Napoleon  the  favour 
of  the  various  political  parties.  She  was  fond  of  lux- 
ury, and  extravagant  perhaps  more  than  her  spirit  of 
charity  should  have  warranted ;  for  her  extravagance 
often  made  it  impossible  for  her  to  satisfy  her  chari- 

■Miiinoira  ^'^>l•  7 


6i2  MEMOIRS   OF 

table  tastes.  I  may  add,  however,  that  on  frequent 
occasions  Napoleon  very  generously  made  up  to  her 
the  deficiencies  caused  by  her  habit  of  spending  money 
too  readily.  There  was  a  charm  and  a  delicacy  about 
her  way  of  obliging  people,  or  of  thanking  them  for 
a  service,  which  won  all  hearts.  In  her  misfortune 
she  showed  a  resignation  which  never  failed  her ;  what 
rendered  her  sorrow  almost  too  heavy  for  her  to  bear 
was  the  inflexible  necessity  of  having  to  separate  from 
the  Emperor.    He  never  neglected  her. 

Prince  Eugene  and  Queen  Hortense  showed  a 
nobility  of  sentiment  and  a  dignity  under  these  cir- 
cumstances which  are  greatly  to  their  honour — their 
devotion  was  admirable.  They  helped  their  mother 
to  keep  up  courage,  and  yet,  whilst  lavishing  their 
tenderness  upon  her,  did  not  forget  their  duty  to  their 
adopted  father.  Queen  Hortense  had  been  summoned 
to  the  Tuileries,  and  arrived  there  at  the  moment  when 
the  Emperor  w^as  returning  from  having  conducted, 
or  rather  having  helped  to  carry,  Josephine  to  her 
rooms.  Accompanying  her  to  the  door  of  her  mother's 
apartments  the  Emperor  said  to  her,  "  Go,  daughter : 
keep  up  courage." — "  Oh,  Sire !  I  have  courage,"  she 
answered,  barely  able  to  utter  the  words  for  her  tears 
and  sobs. 

Prince  Eugene  told  me  at  Vienna  that  in  the  first 
interview  which  he  had  with  his  mother  in  Napoleon's 
presence  after  the  divorce  had  been  decided  upon, 
Empress  Josephine  had  asked  for  the  Crown  of  Italy 
for  her  son,  that  he  (Eugene)  did  not  wish  to  receive 
anything  except  from  the  Emperor's  kindness,  fearing 
that  this  favour  might  be  considered  as  the  price  of 
his  mother's  divorce,  and  had  begged  her  not  to  insist 
on  this  request,  that  the  Emperor,  touched  by  his  re- 
serve, had  assured  him  that  he  did  very  well  to  trust 
himself  to  his  tenderness. 


NAPOLEON    I.  613 

The  marriage  of  Napoleon  with  Empress  Josephine 
had  been  declared  null  by  the  Senatus  Consultum,  and 
after  some  time  the  officiality  of  Paris  severed  the 
religious  ties.  The  deed  of  the  civil  marriage  con- 
tained clauses  of  nullity  which  would  have  been  enough 
to  justify  a  divorce.  As  it  was  revolting  to  the  Em- 
peror to  make  use  of  this  means,  he  would  not  allow 
these  points  to  be  put  forward.  The  two  witnesses 
had  been  M.  Calmalet,  the  friend  of  the  Beauharnais 
family,  and  Captain  Lemarrois,  General  Bonaparte's 
aide-de-camp.  The  latter  was  not  of  age  for,  born  in 
1776,  he  was  barely  twenty  years  old  in  1796,  at  the 
time  of  the  marriage.  The  age  of  the  two  spouses  had 
not  been  correctly  stated.  The  whole  proceedings  had 
been  marked  with  the  irregularity  which  was  the 
natural  consequence  of  the  time  at  which  the  marriage 
took  place.  The  birth  certificates  of  neither  had  been 
asked  for,  or  at  any  rate  had  only  been  casually  exam- 
ined. In  the  register  General  Bonaparte  w'as  de- 
scribed as  having  been  born  on  February  5th,  1768; 
as  a  matter  of  fact  he  was  really  born  on  August  15th, 
1769.  This  made  some  people  suppose  that  Napoleon 
was  born  before  Corsica  was  ceded  to  France.  Was 
the  reason  that  this  date  was  so  given  the  carelessness 
of  General  Bonaparte's  solicitor,  or  did  the  General 
himself  wish,  by  adding  eighteen  months  to  his  age, 
to  make  it  more  on  a  level  w^ith  that  of  Madame  de 
Beauharnais,  who,  on  her  side,  reduced  her  age  for 
the  same  purpose?  None  of  Napoleon's  brothers  was 
born  on  the  5th  of  February. 

After  the  .sorrowful  and  imposing  ceremony,  which 
unloosened  the  bonds  of  a  union,  which,  had  Josephine 
been  fruitful,  would  have  lasted  as  long  as  their  lives, 
she  who  till  then  had  been  Empress  went  down  to 
her  apartment.  The  Emperor  re-entered  his  study, 
sad  and  silent,  and  let  himself  fall  on  the  sofa  where 


6i4  MEMOIRS    OF 

he  usually  sat,  in  a  state  of  complete  depression.  He 
remained  there  some  moments,  his  head  leaning  on 
his  hand,  and  when  he  rose  his  face  was  distorted. 
Orders  for  the  departure  to  Trianon  had  been  given 
in  advance.  When  it  was  announced  that  the  car- 
riages were  ready,  Napoleon  took  his  hat  and  said, 
"  Meneval,  come  with  me !  "  I  followed  him  up  the 
little  winding  staircase  which  communicated  between 
his  study  and  the  Empress's  apartment.  Josephine  was 
alone,  and  appeared  wrapped  in  the  most  painful  reflec- 
tion. The  noise  we  made  in  entering  attracted  her  at- 
tention, and  springing  up  she  threw  herself  on  the  Em- 
peror's neck  sobbing  and  crying.  He  pressed  her  to 
his  bosom,  kissing  her  over  and  over  again,  but  in  the 
excess  of  her  emotion  she  had  fainted.  I  ran  to  the 
bell  and  summoned  help.  The  Emperor,  wishing  to 
avoid  the  sight  of  a  grief  which  he  was  unable  to 
assuage,  placed  the  Empress  in  my  arms  as  soon  as 
he  saw  she  was  coming  back  to  consciousness,  ordered 
me  not  to  leave  her,  and  withdrew  rapidly  by  the 
drawing-rooms  of  the  ground  floor,  at  the  door  of 
which  his  carriage  was  waiting  for  him.  After  the 
Emperor's  disappearance,  women  who  entered  laid  her 
on  a  couch  and  did  what  was  necessary  for  her  recov- 
ery. In  her  confusion  she  took  my  hands  and  earn- 
estly prayed  me  to  tell  the  Emperor  not  to  forget  her, 
and  to  assure  him  of  an  affection  which  would  survive 
any  and  every  event.  She  made  me  promise  to  send 
her  news  of  him  on  my  arrival  at  Trianon  and  to  see 
that  he  wrote  to  her.  It  seemed  to  be  difficult  for  her 
to  allow  me  to  depart,  as  if  my  departure  would  break 
the  last  tie  by  which  she  was  connected  with  Napo- 
leon. I  left  her,  grieved  at  so  deep  a  sorrow  and  so 
sincere  an  affection.  I  felt  very  miserable  all  along 
my  route,  and  I  could  not  help  deploring  that  the  rigor- 
ous exactions  of  politics  should  violently  break  the 


NAPOLEON    I.  615 

bonds  of  an  affection  which  had  stood  the  test  of  time, 
to  impose  another  union  full  of  uncertainty. 

On  my  arrival  at  Trianon  I  informed  the  Emperor 
of  what  had  happened  after  his  departure,  and  gave 
him  the  messages  with  which  I  had  been  entrusted. 
Napoleon,  who  was  still  under  the  impression  of  the 
scenes  of  the  day,  spoke  at  great  length  of  Josephine's 
good  qualities,  and  of  the  sincerity  of  her  affection 
for  him.  He  considered  her  as  a  devoted  friend,  and 
always  retained  an  affectionate  remembrance  of  her. 
The  same  evening  he  wrote  her  a  letter  to  comfort 
her  in  her  solitude.  Hearing  from  those  who  saw  her 
at  La  Malmaison  that  she  frequently  cried,  he  again 
wrote  to  her,  complaining  tenderly  of  her  want  of 
courage,  and  telling  her  how  nmch  he  suffered  by  the 
separation.  It  was  at  Trianon  that  began  the  official 
negotiations  of  Napoleon's  marriage,  which  of  course 
could  not  be  commenced  without  it  being  certain  that 
Napoleon's  offer  would  be  accepted.  The  marriage 
with  the  House  of  Saxony,  which  presented  no  diffi- 
culties, was  dropped  after  careful  examination,  and  in 
consideration  of  the  dependent  position  of  this  State, 
which  could  be  of  no  use,  and  would  be  rather  an 
embarrassment  in  case  of  war.  There  remained  then 
the  Russian  marriage,  and  the  Arch-duchess  of  Aus- 
tria. The  latter  was  reserved  in  Napoleon's  secret 
thoughts.  The  Emperor  spent  a  week  at  Trianon  in 
unusual  idleness,  trying  to  amuse  himself  with  shoot 
ing  and  hunting.  He  went  to  visit  at  La  Malmaison 
the  lady  who  a  few  days  before  had  been  his  wife. 
On  the  eve  of  his  return  to  Paris  he  wished  to  receive 
her  at  dinner  at  Trianon  with  her  daughter  the  Queen 
Hortense,  and  having  noticed  that  this  palace  was  not 
sufficiently  protected  against  the  cold  authorized  Em- 
press Josephine  to  go  to  the  Elysce,  there  to  wait  the 
conclusion    of    the    necessary   arrangements    for   her 


6i6  MEMOIRS    OF 

definite  establishment  there.  Josephine  was  obliged 
shortly  afterwards  to  leave  for  the  Chateau  de  Na- 
varre in  consequence  of  the  imminent  arrival  of  the 
new  Empress. 

Recalled  to  Paris  by  public  affairs,  Napoleon  was 
surprised  at  the  solitude  of  his  palace,  no  longer 
animated  by  Empress  Josephine's  presence.  He  felt 
the  want  of  the  domestic  life  to  which  he  was  ac- 
customed, and  this  void  was  not  always  filled  by 
the  cares  of  government  which,  by  reason  of  his  grow- 
ing activity  and  foresight,  which  overlooked  nothing, 
were  constantly  multiplying.  In  the  meanwhile  the 
answer  from  St.  Petersburg  was  delayed,  and  Napo- 
leon began  to  suspect  that  this  delay  covered  a  hidden 
refusal.  The  pretexts  given  were  the  question  of  a 
difference  of  creeds,  and  the  necessity  of  consulting 
the  Dowager-Empress  and  of  overcoming  her  objec- 
tions. 

In  the  course  of  January  M.  de  Metternich  had 
dropped  a  hint  in  the  course  of  a  conversation  which 
General  Narbonne,  who  having  no  instructions  to  an- 
swer him  on  this  point,  had  allowed  the  insinuation  to 
pass  unnoticed.  It  became  necessary  to  ascertain 
whether  the  Court  of  Austria  was  disposed  as  in  the 
past.  The  first  steps  with  this  object  in  view  were 
made  to  the  Austrian  ambassador  by  MM.  Delaborde 
and  Semonville,  in  the  course  of  a  conversation  in  the 
drawing-room  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Austrian  am- 
bassador, whose  name  was  Floret.  These  gentlemen 
spoke  as  if  on  their  own  initiative,  so  that  the  Em- 
peror, not  being  in  any  way  bound  by  what  they  said, 
should  be  at  perfect  liberty,  in  case  of  need,_  to  refuse 
any  responsibility  for  their  statements.  This  sugges- 
tion which  was  eagerly  seized  upon  by  M.  Floret, 
seemed  to  confirm  what  was  already  known  of  the 
friendly  state  of  mind  of  Austria. 


NAPOLEON    I.  617 

On  the  other  hand,  and  almost  at  the  same  time, 
letters  came  from  Russia  which  did  not  satisfy  the 
Emperor  who  was  not  in  the  least  blind  to  the  real 
reason  of  the  delays  of  the  Russian  Cabinet.  Other 
considerations  which  made  Napoleon  hesitate  were 
the  age  of  Princess  Anne,  who  was  not  yet  of  an  age 
to  marry ;  and,  supposing  the  ditTerence  of  religions 
to  be  a  genuine  objection,  the  fact  that  he  would  be 
forced  to  admit  Russian  priests,  and  all  the  intrigues 
they  would  bring  with  them  into  the  interior  of  the 
Tuileries  Palace.  Did  the  Emperor's  feeling  of  his 
dignity  allow  him  to  renounce  the  friendly  disposition 
of  Austria,  to  wait  until  it  might  suit  the  Czar  and 
the  Dowager-Empress  to  make  up  their  minds?  Such 
an  attitude  would  have  exposed  him  to  the  laughter 
of  Europe.  Napoleon  made  up  his  mind  at  the  right 
moment,  and  showed  on  this  occasion,  as  on  a  hundred 
others,  that  no  one  better  than  he  knew  how  to  make 
use  of  his  time.  He  saw^  that  the  Duke  de  Vicencc 
obtained  nothing  from  Emperor  Alexander  but  evasive 
answers.  In  order  to  avoid  being  reproached  with 
frivolity  and  inconstancy  and  to  ascertain  exactly  how 
matters  stood,  Napoleon  wrote  directly  to  the  Russian 
sovereign.  In  this  letter  he  told  the  Czar  that  after  a 
series  of  delays  which  without  any  plausible  motive 
were  prolonging  his  state  of  uncertainty,  he  could  no 
longer  delay  from  obtaining  a  clear  answer,  which 
would  put  an  end  to  this  equivocal  state  of  affairs. 
Alexander's  answer  arrived  at  last.  It  was  full  of 
flattering  protestations;  he  expressed  his  desire  to 
multiply  the  bonds  which  attached  him  to  the  Emperor 
Napoleon,  but  left  matters  exactly  where  they  were 
after  the  first  overture.  Napoleon  judging  that  his 
own  dignity  and  that  of  the  nation  would  be  compro- 
mised by  waiting  any  longer  took  upon  himself  the 
initiative  of   refusing   the  marriage,      i  le   had   taken 


6i8  MEMOIRS    OF 

care  before  doing  so  to  assure  himself  of  the  entire 
co-operation  of  Prince  Schwarzenberg,  Austrian  Am- 
bassador to  Paris,  who  vouchsafed  the  disposition  of 
the  Court  of  Austria.  From  this  moment  Napoleon's 
choice  was  made  in  favour  of  the  Arch-duchess.  He 
called  together  a  Privy  Council  to  examine  to  which 
of  the  three  marriages,  that  is  to  say,  the  Russian, 
Austrian,  and  Saxon  alliances,  preference  should  be 
given.  The  three  questions  were  freely  discussed  at 
the  Council,  the  Emperor  listening  with  the  greatest 
attention  to  the  various  opinions  for  and  against  these 
different  plans,  but  did  not  express  his  private  feelings 
on  the  matter.  It  was  only  on  the  evening  of  the  same 
day  that  Napoleon  signified  his  decision  to  the  Minis- 
ter of  Foreign  Affairs.  Prince  Eugene  was  charged 
with  the  mission  to  carry  the  formal  announcement  to 
Prince  Schwarzenberg,  Austrian  Ambassador,  with 
whom  an  appointment  was  made  on  the  morrow  for 
the  purpose  of  oft'ering  the  Arch-duchess's  hand.  The 
marriage  contract  was  signed  in  the  evening.  The 
Duke  de  Cadore's  first  despatch  to  the  Duke  de 
Vicence,  referring  to  the  proposal  of  marriage,  was 
sent  off  from  Paris  on  November  24th,  1809.  It  is  true 
that  at  the  time  it  reached  its  destination  Emperor 
Alexander  was  away  from  St.  Petersburg.  On 
January  loth,  18 10,  the  Duke  de  Vicence  asked  for  a 
definite  answer  within  a  period  of  ten  days.  The  an- 
swer had  not  yet  been  given  on  the  6th  of  February. 
Emperor  Napoleon — who  has  generally  been  repre- 
sented as  a  man  who  would  brook  no  delays,  who 
would  have  any  plan  carried  into  execution  as  soon  as 
it  had  been  made — had  nevertheless  been  waiting  for 
two  months  and  a  half  for  the  solution  of  a  question  of 
capital  importance,  and  the  immediate  solution  of 
which  was  of  the  highest  importance  to  himself. 
The  Princess  whom  the  Emperor  had  chosen  was 


NAPOLEON    I.  619 

the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Emperor  Francis  who,  until 
1805,  had  been  Francis  11.,  the  Emperor  of  Germany. 
After  the  creation  of  the  Federation  of  the  Rhine 
which  changed  the  organization  of  the  German  States, 
this  Prince  had  taken  the  title  of  Francis  1.,  Emperor 
of  Austria,  a  title  which  since  then  he  has  retained. 
This  sovereign  was  married  four  times.  His  first 
wife,  a  Princess  of  Wurtemberg,  whom  he  married  at 
the  age  of  twenty,  died  two  years  after  marriage.  His 
second  marriage  was  with  Maria  Theresa,  daughter  of 
Ferdinand  the  Fourth.  King  of  the  two  Sicilies,  with 
whom  he  lived  in  a  union  which  the  harmony  of  their 
tastes  rendered  a  very  close  one.  There  may  be  seen 
in  the  Imperial  Palace  in  Austria,  and  notably  in  the 
Park  of  Laxenburg  small  farms,  where  the  illustrious 
couple  delighted  in  forgetting  their  rank  and  giving 
themselves  up  to  the  pleasures  and  occupations  of  a 
country  life.  It  was  from  this  second  marriage  alone 
that  the  Emperor  Francis  had  any  children. 

The  first  was  Marie  Louise,  formerly  Empress  of 
the  French,  succeeded,  in  the  following  order,  by  the 
late  Arch-duchess  Leopoldinc.  who  was  Empress  of 
'Brazil;  Arch-duke  Ferdinand,  who  became  Emperor; 
Arch-duchess  Maria  Clementina,  wife  of  Prince  Leo- 
pold of  Salerno;  late  Arch-duchess  Caroline,  who 
married  Prince  Frederick  of  Saxony ;  Arch-duke 
Francis  Charles,  who  married  the  daughter  of  the  late 
King  Maximilian  of  Bavaria;  and  finally  by  the  Arch- 
duchess Marianne,  whose  eccentricities  have  kept  her 
away  from  the  court  and  which  probably  stood  in  the 
way  of  any  marriage. 

The  Emi)eror  h'rancis's  third  wife,  whom  Napoleon 
knew,  was  the  Princess  Marie  Louise  Beatrice  d'Este, 
who  was  her  husband's  cousin.  She  was  fond  of 
literature,  her  favourite  author  being  .Augustus  La 
Fontaine,  a  German  author  of  hYench  origin,  who  is 


620  MEMOIRS    OF 

looked  on  in  Germany  as  the  founder  of  his  school. 
The  new  Empress  exercised  great  influence  over  her 
husband  from  the  beginning  of  their  married  life,  an 
influence  which  was  somewhat  to  the  dissatisfaction  of 
the  Emperor's  brothers.  She  hated  the  French  with  a 
hatred  which  she  had  inherited  from  her  father.  Her 
life  was  cut  short  by  her  bad  health;  the  Imperial 
Palace  used  frequently  to  resound  with  the  cries  torn 
from  her  by  violent  attacks  of  a  nervous  disease. 
She  died  in  1816,  barely  twenty-six  years  of  age, 
leaving  the  Emperor  Francis  a  widower  for  the  third 
time.  Some  surprise  was  expressed  when  he  married 
for  a  fourth  time  in  the  same  year  with  the  second 
daughter  of  the  first  marriage  of  King  Maximilian  of 
Bavaria.  This  princess  had  been  married  before  to 
the  crown  Prince  of  Wurtemberg,  who,  in  his  turn,  had 
become  King.  Having  been  divorced  from  her  hus- 
band, she  had  retired  to  the  house  of  her  eldest  sister, 
the  wife  of  Prince  Eugene  Beauharnais.  She  lived 
there  in  great  retirement,  apparently  forgotten  by  the 
world,  and  certainly  not  foreseeing  the  destiny  re- 
served for  her :  an  Imperial  Crown  in  compensation 
for  the  Crown  which  she  had  lost. 

The  history  of  Empress  Marie  Louise's  first  years 
is  the  history  of  all  the  Austrian  Arch-duchesses, 
whose  education  is  almost  invariably  the  same. 
Brought  up  under  their  parents'  eyes  until  the  day  of 
their  marriage,  these  princesses  live  in  absolute  retire- 
ment from  the  court  with  their  women  and  servants 
whom,  as  a  rule,  they  treat  with  familiar  kindness,  and 
whom  they  even  allow  to  share  in  their  games.  Their 
education  is  conducted  by  governesses  who  are  present 
at  the  lessons  given  to  them  by  professors.  The  grand 
mistress  of  the  Arch-duchess  Marie  Louise  was  Coun- 
tess Colloredo,  and  her  governess  was  Countess  Lazan- 
ski,  a  woman  of  merit,  greatly  devoted  to  her  pupil, 


NAPOLEON  I.  621 

who  on  her  side  was  extremely  attached  to  her.  Marie 
Louise's  education  had  been  a  very  careful  one  indeed. 
She  knew  several  languages — even  Latin,  which  is 
currently  spoken  by  the  Hungarians.  Already  at  an 
early  age  she  had  made  great  progress  in  music  and 
drawing.  She  painted  in  oil  colours,  and  on  her  ar- 
rival in  France  took  lessons  from  Prudhon,  one  of  our 
best  painters;  but  she  was  forced  to  give  up  painting 
because  the  smell  of  the  oil  and  of  the  colours  allected 
her  disagreeably. 

The  most  minute  precautions  were  taken  to  preserve 
the  young  Arch-duchesses  from  any  impressions  which 
might  have  soiled  their  innocence ;  a  praiseworthy  ob- 
ject no  doubt,  but  the  means  employed  to  secure  it 
were  not  always  very  judiciously  selected.  A  spirit 
of  bigotry,  and  exaggerated  scruples  were  harmful 
rather  than  useful.  Instead  of  preventing  the  Prin- 
cesses from  reading  books  which  contained  passages 
likely  to  pervert  their  minds — mutilated  books,  in 
which  pages,  lines,  and  even  single  words  had  been  cut 
out  with  the  scissors,  were  placed  in  their  hands.  A 
censorship  so  clumsily  exercised  could  have  no  other 
result  than  one  opposite  to  that  which  was  hoped  for. 
These  passages  which  would  be  passed  unnoticed  had 
they  been  allowed  to  remain,  were  interpreted  in  a 
thousand  ways  by  the  young  minds,  all  the  more  ready 
to  suppose  all  kinds  of  things  because  their  curiosity 
had  been  excited.  The  harm  which  it  was  intended  to 
prevent  was  thus  brought  to  their  notice,  and  even 
increased.  On  the  other  hand  it  hai)pened  that  the 
Royal  pupils  had  nothing  but  indifference  for  their 
books,  which  after  the  mutilations  which  they  had 
undergone  had  become  in  their  eyes  soulless  bodies, 
totally  lacking  in  interest.  The  Arch-duchess  Marie 
I^ui.se.  after  she  Ix^came  Empress,  used  to  confess 
that  the  absence  of  these  passages  in  her  books  had 


622  MEMOIRS    OF 

aroused  the  greatest  curiosity  in  her,  and  the  first 
thing  that  she  did  when  she  became  free  to  read  what 
she  chose,  was  to  look  up  the  passages  which  had 
been  cut  out  of  her  schoolbooks  so  as  to  see  what  her 
parents  had  wished  to  hide  from  her.  Shall  I  add  that 
domestic  animals  of  the  male  sex  were  never  allowed 
to  enter  their  apartments,  that  the  only  pets  they 
were  allowed  to  have  were  females,  because  these  were 
less  likely  to  ofifend  the  sense  of  decency? 

This  system  of  education,  which  was  still  in  practice 
during  Marie  Louise's  childhood,  has  probably  since 
then  been  modified.  My  remarks  apply  moreover  only 
to  the  childhood  of  the  Arch-duchesses  who  in  their 
youth  received  developed  education,  and  had  for  their 
masters,  professors  chosen  from  amongst  the  most 
distinguished  writers  and  savants. 

The  Arch-duchess  Marie  Louise,  at  the  first  over- 
tures made  to  her  on  the  projected  marriage,  with  the 
Emperor  Napoleon,  considered  herself  almost  as  a 
victim  who  was  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  Minotaur.  She 
has  frequently  told  me  that  she  grew  up,  if  not  in 
hatred,  at  least  with  very  hostile  feelings  against  the 
man  who,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  had  put  the 
house  of  Hapsburg  on  the  brink  of  ruin;  who  had 
forced  her  family  to  flee  from  their  capital,  and  to  wan- 
der from  town  to  town  in  the  midst  of  the  confusion 
and  consternation  which  are  inseparable  from  a  hasty 
retreat. 

The  favourite  games  of  her  brothers  and  sisters  con- 
sisted in  setting  up  in  a  row  a  troop  of  little  wooden 
or  waxen  figures,  which  represented  the  French  army, 
at  the  head  of  which  they  put  the  blackest  and  ugliest 
figure.  They  used  to  stab  it  through  and  through 
with  pins,  and  heap  insults  on  its  head,  thus  revenging 
themselves  on  this  inoffensive  leader  for  the  treatment 
occasioned   to    their   family   by   the   redoubted   chief 


NAPOLEON    I.  623 

against  whom  the  efforts  of  the  Austrian  armies,  and 
the  thunderbolts  of  the  Cabinet  of  Vienna  dashed  in 
vain.  Brought  up  to  passive  obedience  Marie  Louise 
was  forced  to  resign  herself  to  the  fate  which  was  to 
be  hers.  Accustomed  to  look  upon  the  Princesses  of 
her  family  as  instruments  of  the  greatness  of  their 
house,  and  as  destined  to  avert  the  storms  which 
threatened  it.  she  did  not  consider  herself  the  victim 
of  a  sacrifice,  but  contemplated  the  part  which  she  was 
called  to  play  not  without  pride.  From  that  moment 
she  sought  to  know  the  man  about  whom,  until  then, 
she  had  avoided  thinking  except  with  hostility.  Her 
former  prejudice  against  him  was  dispelled  by  what 
she  heard  of  his  private  qualities,  of  the  happiness 
which  he  had  given  to  Josephine,  and  of  the  love  which 
was  borne  to  him  by  the  French.  She  left  Vienna 
with  the  wish  to  please  Napoleon;  her  subjugation  was 
completed  when  she  had  got  to  know  his  character. 
At  the  time  when  she  spoke  to  me,  in  181 3,  she  felt  a 
real  affection  for  the  Emperor,  and  was  sincerely  at- 
tached to  his  destinies.  It  was  her  dream  to  be  able 
to  go  one  day  with  him  on  a  visit  to  her  family,  and  see 
once  more  the  delightful  surroundings  of  Vienna,  dear 
to  her  from  the  memories  of  her  childhood. 

The  Emperor  had  spent  about  three  months  in  Paris, 
during  which  period  he  had  awaited  the  issue  of  the 
negotiations  entered  upon  in  St.  Petersburg.  Then, 
pledging  himself  to  Prince  Schwarzenberg,  he  gave 
orders  that  the  deed  of  betrothal  for  the  marriage  of 
the  Arch-duchess  Marie  Louise  be  drawn  up.  The 
Duke  de  Cadore  and  the  Ambassador  of  .Austria  af- 
fixed their  signatures.  Napoleon  appointed  by  decree, 
at  the  same  time,  the  gcnilemen  and  ladies  who  were 
to  compose  the  household  of  the  new  Empress,  and  at 
the  same  time  he  despatched  to  Vienna,  on  extraordi- 
nary embassy,  Prince  de  Neufchatcl,  to  wed  the  Arch- 


624  MEMOIRS    OF 

duchess  in  his  name.  During  this  period  of  waiting 
Napoleon,  unable  to  remain  quiet  in  one  place,  paid 
visits  to  La  Malmaison,  went  to  spend  two  days  at 
Grignon,  at  the  house  of  the  widow  of  Marshal  Bes- 
sieres,  and  then  went  on  to  Rambouillet.  On  his  re- 
turn home  he  sent  Queen  Caroline,  his  sister,  with  an 
escort  of  honour  to  the  frontier  to  receive  the  illus- 
trious bride. 

The  sovereigns  allied  to  the  French  Empire,  the 
Kings  of  Bavaria,  Saxony,  Wurtemburg,  Holland, 
Naples,  and  the  Viceroy  of  Italy  had  been  summoned 
to  Paris.  King  Joseph,  detained  in  Spain  by  the  most 
serious  troubles,  could  not  come  to  join  the  royal 
procession.  He  did  not  come  to  France  until  the 
next  year,  on  the  occasion  of  the  christening  of  the 
King  of  Rome.  The  King  of  Holland  had  consulted 
his  council  on  the  question  whether  it  would  be  right 
to  sanction  by  his  presence  in  Paris  his  submission  to 
the  onerous  measures  imposed  by  France  on  the  Dutch 
Kingdom.  The  ministers  and  the  grand  officers  of  the 
crown  pronounced  themselves  in  favour  of  the  journey 
to  Paris,  and  advanced  as  their  reason  that  marked  op- 
position might  be  the  danger  of  Holland.  The  King 
yielded  to  this  wise  advice,  which  was  contrary  to  his 
private  inclination.  He  was  taken  up  with  the  idea  that 
he  would  be  detained  in  Paris,  that  use  would  be  made 
of  his  name  to  authorize  orders  which  he  would  be 
unable  to  disavow  afterwards,  and  that  advantage 
would  be  taken  of  his  absence  to  occupy  Holland. 
He  agreed  with  his  ministers  that  any  writing  which 
did  not  end  up  with  a  word  which  was  agreed  upon, 
and  was  to  be  written  in  Dutch,  would  be  considered 
as  of  no  value  by  them.  After  having  left  general  in- 
structions to  the  council  of  ministers  as  to  the  govern- 
ment of  his  country  during  his  absence.  King  Louis 
left  for  Paris.     Before  his  departure  he  had  given 


NAPOLEON    1.  625 

written  orders  to  the  commanders  of  the  fortress  in 
Brabant  that  no  foreign  troops  should  be  admitted  into 
the  interior  of  the  fortress  without  a  written  order, 
signed  by  himself. 

Amongst  the  number  of  home  affairs  which  at  this 
time  were  taking  up  the  attention  of  the  Emperor 
must  be  mentioned  the  establishment  of  the  state 
prisons.  Discussed  in  the  council  of  state,  the  decree 
which  instituted  these  prisons  is  dated  March  5th, 
18 10.  Although  this  measure  was  surrounded  with 
precautions  and  guarantees,  which  were  intended  to 
soften  down  its  arbitrary  nature,  and  although  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  in  practice  these  prisons  were  only  used 
in  a  spirt  of  moderation,  I  will  undertake  not  to  de- 
fend, but  simply  to  explain  the  system.  At  the  time 
when  the  measure,  of  which  we  are  speaking,  was 
adopted  and  regulated  it  was  one  of  the  vexatious  but 
inevitable  consequences  of  the  Imperial  dictatorship, 
at  a  time  when  the  earthquake  caused  by  our  civil 
trouble  was  still  making  itself  felt.  Without  entering 
into  particulars  of  the  arrangements  and  regime  of 
these  state  prisons  I  will  say  that  they  were  only  used 
for  men  whom  the  government  could  not  bring  to  trial 
before  the  ordinary  tribunals,  and  who  could  certainly 
not  be  left  unpunished — such  as  the  Chouans,  batten- 
ing on  civil  war,  plotters  of  the  murder  of  the  Head 
of  the  State,  or  agents  in  conspiracy  for  upsetting  the 
throne ;  or  fanatical  or  immoral  priests.  I  will  add  that 
nobody  could  be  imprisoned  in  these  state  prisons 
without  a  decision  emanating  from  a  i)rivy  council, 
which  was  composed  of  the  I'^irst  President  and  Procu- 
rator (General  of  the  Court  of  Cassation,  as  well  as  of 
men  who  occupied  a  high  position  in  the  administra- 
tion; and  no  persons  could  be  detained  for  more  than 
a  year  without  a  fresh  decision  from  the  privy  coun- 
cil ;  that  the  prisons  were  visited  by  two  Councillors 


626  MEMOIRS    OF 

of  the  State  each  year,  who  thereupon  presented  a  re- 
port to  the  council  in  assembly ;  that  one  fourth  of  the 
votes  was  sufficient  to  set  a  prisoner  at  liberty;  and 
that,  what  is  more,  the  Imperial  Procurators  had 
equally  a  right  to  visit  the  prisoners  and  assure  them- 
selves that  they  had  been  arrested  and  were  being  de- 
tained in  virtue  of  a  decision  of  the  privy  council. 

It  was  in  one  of  these  State  prisons — Vincennes — 
that  a  young  Saxon  named  Lasahla,  had  to  be  locked 
up.  Lasahla  was  arrested  in  Paris  in  the  month  of 
February,  1811,  whilst  watching  his  opportunity  to 
murder  the  Emperor.  He  carried  several  loaded  pis- 
tols, and  declared  that  such  was  his  guilty  intention, 
and  that  were  liberty  to  be  offered  him  on  the  condi- 
tion of  abandoning  his  plan  it  would  be  impossible  to 
him  not  to  try  and  find  a  means  for  carrying  out  his 
object.  On  the  Minister  of  Police  presenting  a  report, 
the  Emperor  dictated  the  following  words,  which  were 
written  on  the  margin :  "This  man's  age  is  his  excuse" 
— he  was  eighteen  years  old — "no  man  is  criminal  at 
so  young  an  age,  unless  born  in  crime.  In  some 
years  he  will  have  changed  his  ways  of  thinking,  and 
we  should  be  sorry  to  have  inflicted  on  an  estimable 
family  the  bereavement  which  will  always  be  more  or 
less  of  a  disgrace.  He  must  be  sent  to  Vincennes,  and 
receive  such  medical  attention  as  the  state  of  his  brain 
would  seem  to  necessitate.  Books  must  be  given  to  him, 
and  his  family  must  be  written  to,  and  then  let  time 
do  its  work."  This  young  man  stayed  at  Vincennes 
until  1 8 14,  when  he  was  freed  by  his  countrymen.  It 
appears  that  neither  time  nor  captivity  had  ripened  his 
intelligence,  for  he  was  again  arrested  during  the 
Hundred  Days  at  the  doors  of  the  Legislative  Cham- 
ber on  the  very  day  when  the  Emperor  was  opening 
the  session.  Detected  by  the  explosion  of  a  packet  of 
fulminating  powder,   which  went  off  in  his  pocket, 


NAPOLEON    I.  627 

L^isahla  was  arrested,  but  almost  immediately  re- 
leased. Napoleon  would  not  allow  any  inquiry  to  be 
made  as  to  what  was  Lasahla's  object  in  providing 
himself  with  this  chemical,  the  effect  of  which  was 
more  menacing  than  murderous.  Lasahla  remained  in 
Paris  until  the  month  of  August,  181 5,  when  he  went 
to  the  Charite  Hospital,  suffering  from  a  slow  nervous 
fever  which  led  him  to  commit  suicide  very  shortly 
after  leaving  the  hospital. 

Preparations  for  his  marriage  did  not  divert  the 
Emperor  from  political  aft'airs.  During  the  Pope's 
stay  in  Savona.  Napoleon  had  offered  to  conduct  him 
back  to  Rome  if  the  Holy  Father  would  undertake 
to  recognize  the  new  state  of  things  established  in  this 
capital,  and  would  consent  to  occupy  himself  with  none 
but  spiritual  affairs.  His  Holiness  refused.  Remain- 
ing in  his  position  as  a  prisoner  and  as  a  persecuted 
man,  the  Pope  counted  on  inspiring  that  interest  which 
is  always  attached  to  the  oppressed.  The  Emperor,  on 
the  other  hand,  could  not  fail  to  expose  himself  to  all 
the  odium  which  attaches  to  that  role  of  oppressor 
which  he  had  not  hesitated  to  assume  in  the  eyes  of 
Europe.  But  Napoleon,  too  accustomed  to  break  down 
all  resistances,  supported  with  impatience  the  bonds 
which  the  Court  of  Rome  imposed  upon  him.  Cardi- 
nal di  Pietro,  to  whom  Pius  VH.  had  left  powers 
in  case  of  need,  was  sending  apostolic  vicars  into  the 
vacant  dioceses,  and  was  corresponding  with  the  mem- 
bers of  the  different  chapters.  The  Pope,  by  means 
of  his  bulls,  was  seconding  his  representative  in  this 
campaign.  Xapoleon  tired  of  the  troubles  which  the 
eternal  opposition  of  the  superior  clergy  caused  him, 
seeing  the  Pope  absent  from  Rome  determined  to  free 
himself  by  one  stroke  of  all  his  difficulties  with  the 
Pontifical  court.    He  made  up  his  mind  to  bring  down, 


628  MEMOIRS    OF 

at  no  matter  what  cost,  a  resistance  to  such  invincible 
obstinacy  that  its  determination  could  not  be  foreseen. 
He  cut  the  Gordian  knot  which  he  had  been  unable  to 
untie,  and  like  Charlemagne,  whose  successor  he  con- 
sidered himself,  he  caused  to  be  issued  in  the  month  of 
February,  in  the  year  1810,  a  senatus  consultum  by 
which  the  annexation  of  the  Pontifical  states  to  the 
French  Empire  was  pronounced,  and  the  temporal 
powers  of  the  Pope  regulated.  A  palace  was  assigned 
in  Paris  and  in  Rome,  or  in  any  other  part  of  the 
Empire  which  it  should  please  him  to  reside  in,  with 
an  annual  revenue  of  two  million  francs,  thus  ending 
this  regrettable  religious  struggle  with  a  Pope  who 
was  gentle,  a  man  of  good  intentions  and  for  whom 
the  Emperor  personally  had  a  liking. 

About  the  same  time  Napoleon  ordered  the  publica- 
tion, in  the  Moniteur,  of  a  remarkable  reply  to  the 
King  of  England's  opening  speech  in  Parliament, 
which  was  followed  by  numerous  documents  relating 
to  Spanish  affairs  in  which  the  correspondence  of  the 
Spanish  Bourbon  Princes  was  largely  drawn  upon. 

Whilst  occupied  in  these  various  matters,  the  Em- 
peror received  one  day  from  some  smugglers  a  packet 
of  English  newspapers  which  were  sent  to  him  by  the 
Minister  of  Police.  Before  sending  them  to  the  trans- 
lation bureau,  he  ordered  me  to  look  them  over,  and 
pointed  out  to  me  the  Paris  correspondence.  What 
was  his  surprise  and  mine,  on  reading  that  Bonaparte, 
being  seated  one  evening  in  his  cabinet,  had  summoned 
a  young  secretary,  called  Meneval — in  whom,  it  was 
added,  he  had  all  confidence — and  told  him  to  hold  the 
light  whilst  he  read  a  passage;  that  this  secretary  had 
put  the  light  which  he  held  in  his  hand  so  close  to  Na- 
poleon's head  that  it  had  caught  fire,  and  that,  imagin- 
ing that  an  attack  was  being  made  on  his  life  Bona- 
parte had  seized  a  pistol — which  he  always  carried 


NAPOLEON    I.  629 

about  him — and  had  discharged  it  point-blank  at  his 
secretary,  who  had  been  killed  on  the  spot.  It  was 
further  reported,  amongst  other  pleasant  things  of  the 
same  kind,  that  Napoleon  had  tlown  into  a  passion  on 
some  slight  pretext  with  Alaret,  State  Secretary,  had 
rushed  upon  him,  knocked  him  down,  and,  seizing  him 
by  the  hair,  dragged  him  on  the  floor;  that  shortly 
afterwards,  ashamed  at  his  passion,  he  had  ordered  him 
to  sit  down  and  had  dictated  to  him  a  decree  by  which 
he  bestowed  upon  him  a  gift  of  a  large  forest  estate. 
At  the  time  of  the  planned  invasion  of  England  there 
had  been  published  all  along  the  English  coast,  a  de- 
scription of  Bonaparte,  physically,  as  well  as  morally, 
as  a  man  of  hideous  appearance  and  character.  This 
description  had  been  printed  in  large  letters  by  all  the 
English  newspapers;  such  were  the  shameful  means 
by  which  the  English  public  was  being  duped. 

The  echoes  of  the  English  press  and  the  drawing- 
rooms  of  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  repeated  these 
absurd  stories  about  Napoleon's  brutal  manners,  not 
only  towards  the  persons  who  approached  him,  but 
also  towards  honourable  foreigners,  and  towards  the 
sacred  person  of  the  sovereign  Pontiff  himself.  Time, 
which  does  justice  to  errors,  and  bad  faith,  has  reduced 
these  contemptible  inventions  to  nothing.  Even  when 
most  displeased  Napoleon  never  gave  way  to  ridiculous 
passion.  Great  as  was  his  dignity,  and  greatly  as  he 
commanded  respect  in  public  audience  and  under 
solemn  circumstances,  so  greatly  was  he  easy,  familiar, 
frank,  and  gay  in  private  life.  An  active  benevolence 
which  sprang  from  his  heart,  as  much  when  he  was 
ve.xed,  as  when  he  was  pleased,  was  felt  by  his  own 
people,  by  his  ministers  and  by  his  offlcers,  and  his 
servants.  In  short,  very  often  his  graciousness  and 
favour  went  out  to  seek  first  some  and  then  others  at 
times  when  they  least  expected  it. 


630  MEMOIRS    OF 

The  Emperor  having  provided  for  current  affairs 
on  all  business  which  demanded  his  special  attention, 
prescribed  the  necessary  arrangements  for  the  arrival 
of  the  new  Empress  at  Compiegne.  Although  it  is  a 
rule  that  all  letters  exchanged  between  sovereigns  must 
be  autograph,  the  fact  that  the  Emperor  could  not 
write  legibly  had  led  to  the  tacit  understanding  that 
his  letters  should  be  written  by  a  secretary.  However, 
under  the  extraordinary  circumstances  of  his  mar- 
riage. Napoleon  wanted  to  write  to  his  future  father- 
in-law,  Emperor  Francis,  in  his  own  writing.  But 
it  was  a  terrible  business  for  him!  At  last,  having 
taken  a  lot  of  pains,  he  succeeded  in  writing  a  letter 
which  was  fairly  legible.  He  told  me  to  rectify  the 
badly  written  letters  in  such  a  way  that  my  corrections 
should  not  be  too  noticeable — such  as  the  forming  of 
the  letter  e,  and  the  dotting  of  the  i's.  I  did  my  work 
as  best  I  could,  and  sent  off,  addressed  to  "His  Ma- 
jesty, Sir,  my  Brother,  The  Emperor  of  Austria" — a 
letter  which  this  sovereign  must  have  been  able  to  read 
with  ease,  and  which  may  possibly  have  made  him 
think  that  his  son-in-law  did  not  write  very  badly  when 
he  chose.  Of  course  he  never  knew  what  trouble  it 
had  caused  the  writer.  I  remember  the  King  and 
Queen  of  Bavaria  having  come  in  one  day  to  the  Em- 
peror, asking  to  see  the  apartment  which  was  intended 
for  the  new  Empress,  Napoleon  treated  them  with  a 
familiarity  which  altogether  pleased  the  King.  He 
wished  to  spare  them  the  trouble  of  leaving  the  draw- 
ing-room in  which  he  had  received  them,  and  of  going 
down  the  grand  staircase  to  the  ground  floor,  on  which 
was  the  Empress's  apartment.  He  accordingly  con- 
ducted the  foreign  sovereigns  across  his  workroom, 
and  led  them  down  a  small  winding  staircase  which 
communicated  with  this  apartment.  This  staircase 
was  no  longer  lighted,  because  the  apartment  was  no 


NAPOLEON    I.  631 

longer  inhabited.  It  was,  moreover,  so  narrow  that 
the  King  of  Bavaria,  who  was  a  very  fat  man,  had  the 
greatest  difhcuky  in  walking  downstairs,  and  had  to 
turn  sideways.  Both  the  King  and  the  Queen  were 
rather  surprised  at  finding  themselves  in  the  dark,  and 
when  the  bottom  of  the  stairs  was  reached,  to  make 
matters  worse,  the  door  was  found  to  be  locked.  Great 
was  our  embarrassment.  I  was  walking  in  front  of 
their  Majesties,  the  Emperor  was  following  me,  then 
came  the  Queen,  and  last  of  all  the  King.  It  looked 
as  if  the  Emperor  had  drawn  them  into  an  ambuscade, 
and  had  this  occurred  in  the  Middle  Ages  what  sinister 
thoughts  would  have  tilled  the  King  and  Queen !  The 
King  of  Bavaria  cried  out  that  if  it  were  known  in 
what  a  position  Napoleon  had  placed  his  guests,  people 
would  be  very  much  surprised.  However,  we  got  out 
of  it  by  turning  right-about-face  and  going  upstairs 
again  in  the  reverse  order,  and  the  visit  to  the  Em- 
press's apartment  was  put  off  until  another  day.  The 
King  remembered  this  trifling  occurrence  and  did  me 
the  honour  of  speaking  about  it  a  long  time  afterwards, 
saying  that  whenever  he  thought  of  it,  he  felt  inclined 
to  laugh.  A  draft  of  the  marriage  contract  had  been 
sent  to  the  French  Ambassador  at  Vienna,  together 
with  full  powers  for  signing  the  diplomatic  convention. 
The  minister  was  Count  Otto  who  had  negotiated  the 
preliminaries  of  the  Peace  of  Amiens,  and  who  had 
been  l<>ench  Ambassador  at  Munich  during  the  war 
of  1805 ;  and  in  the  accomplishment  of  these  various 
missions  his  zeal  had  been  rewarded  by  praises  which 
Napoleon  by  no  means  lavished.  It  was  thanks  to 
his  care  that  certain  difficulties  raised  by  the  scruples 
of  the  Emperor  of  Austria  and  the  Archbishop  of 
Vienna  on  the  validity  of  Napoleon's  divorce,  were 
smoothed  over.  The  Emperor  of  .\ustria  signed  the 
marriage  contract  on  I'^cbruary  i6th,  and,  on  the  27th, 


632  MEMOIRS    OF 

M.  Otto  exchanged  ratifications  of  this  contract  with 
Count  Metternich.  The  Emperor  himself  had  made 
the  arrangements  for  his  marriage.  He  sent  to  M. 
Otto  the  Hst  of  presents  which  were  to  be  made  at  the 
moment  when  the  Arch-duchess  was  handed  over  to 
the  French  mission  sent  to  receive  her  at  Braunau. 
These  presents  were  similar  to  those  which  Louis  XV. 
had  made  on  the  reception  of  the  Dauphiness  at  Stras- 
burg. 

Napoleon  wanted  everything  to  be  done  with  mag- 
nificence. He  expressed  the  desire  that  if  it  were 
thought  necessary  to  choose  one  of  the  Arch-duchess's 
brothers  to  marry  the  Princess  in  his  name,  it  should 
be  the  Prince  Imperial;  that  if  the  minority  of  the 
Emperor's  son  be  an  obstacle  it  should  be  Arch-duke 
Charles;  he  added,  however,  that  he  would  content 
himself  with  the  Emperor's  choice.  At  the  same  time 
Napoleon  sent  the  description  of  the  new  Empress's 
household,  and  indicated  the  route  which  was  to  be 
followed.  He  finally  sent  Count  Anatole  de  Montes- 
quiou,  one  of  the  orderly  officers,  to  Vienna,  to  carry 
his  portrait  to  the  Arch-duchess,  to  be  present  at  the 
marriage,  and  to  report  to  him  the  first  news  that  all 
these  things  had  been  concluded. 

The  Prince  de  Neufchatel  and  Wagram  had  been 
sent  on  to  Vienna  as  an  extraordinary  ambassador,  and 
met  Prince  Paul  Esterhazy  on  the  frontier.  He  con- 
ducted him  to  the  Imperial  palace,  where  an  apartment 
had  been  prepared  for  him  in  one  of  the  wings.  Mar- 
shal Berthier,  Prince  of  Neufchatel,  entered  into 
Vienna,  and  crossed  the  bridge  thrown  over  the  ruins 
of  the  ramparts  which  the  French  army  had  blown  up 
after  the  last  war  before  evacuating  the  capital.  Such 
a  leave-taking  shows  how  much  confidence  Napoleon 
had  in  the  feelings  of  Austria  towards  him.  and  from 
whom  he  was  constantly  expecting  fresh  perfidy.    The 


NAPOLEON    I.  633 

Ambassador  who  was  conducted  on  the  day  of  his  ar- 
rival into  the  presence  of  the  Emperor  to  make  his 
solemn  demand  for  the  hand  of  the  Arch-duchess,  was 
treated  by  the  court  with  unusual  distinction.  The 
following  day  was  taken  up  with  the  ceremony  of 
handing  to  the  Arch-duke  Paul  the  powers  bestowed 
by  the  Emperor  Napoleon  to  wed  the  Arch-duchess 
in  his  name.  On  the  following  day,  March  9th.  the 
Arch-duchess,  according  to  the  usage,  solemnly  re- 
nounced succession  to  the  Imperial  throne,  and  took 
the  oath.  On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  the  mar- 
riage contract  was  signed  with  solemn  ceremony  in 
the  grand  apartments  of  the  Palace  and  the  amount 
of  the  dowry — five  hundred  thousand  francs — was 
presented  to  the  Ambassador  in  rolls  of  gold  ducats 
enclosed  in  a  box. 

The  religious  ceremony  of  the  marriage  was  per- 
formed on  the  nth  of  March,  in  the  Church  of  the 
Augustines.  The  gala  banquet  given  at  the  court  fol- 
lowed this  ceremony  and  the  extraordinary  Ambassa- 
dor was  present.  Exception  was  made  in  this  instance 
to  the  ceremonial  of  the  court  of  Vienna  of  only  ad- 
mitting Ambassadors  to  the  Emperor's  table  on  very 
rare  occasions,  and  these,  moreover,  were  obliged  to 
leave  the  table  at  dessert,  and  remain  afterwards 
amongst  the  crowds  of  gentlemen  who  were  admitted 
to  the  banqueting  hall.  People  did  not  fail  to  remem- 
ber on  this  occasion,  as  on  the  marriage  of  the  French 
Dauphin  with  Arch-duchess  Marie  Antoinette,  that 
the  Marquis  Durfort  had  not  been  invited  to  the  ban- 
quet, so  as  to  avoid  any  discussion  with  the  Duke 
Albert  of  Saxe  Teschen,  who  was  present.  The  same 
Duke  Albert  of  Saxony,  to  whom  was  reserved  in  his 
old  age  the  spectacle  so  extraordinary  in  his  eyes  of  a 
new  throne  being  raised  in  France  on  the  ruins  of  the 
old  one;  and  on  which  another  Arch-duchess  went  to 


634  MEMOIRS    OF 

sit,  did  not  present  himself  at  the  banquet  which  was 
given  in  honour  of  Napoleon's  marriage  with  Marie 
Louise.  The  absence  of  this  Prince  was  explained  by 
the  desire  of  the  Court  of  Vienna  to  give  a  particular 
mark  of  distinction  to  the  Ambassador  of  the  Emperor 
of  the  French. 

On  the  morrow  after  the  conclusion  of  the  marriage, 
Marshal  Prince  Berthier  received  the  Arch-duke  Pala- 
tine and  the  Arch-duke  Anthony,  the  Emperor's 
brothers,  who  came  to  take  leave  of  the  Ambassador, 
and  to  present  the  last  adieux  to  the  Imperial  family, 
which  was  another  exception  made  to  etiquette.  I  could 
multiply  the  examples  of  these  concessions  made  by 
a  court  which  was  scrupulously  attached  to  forms,  and 
which  shows  to  what  a  degree  the  Viennese  Court,  on 
this  occasion,  desired  to  make  itself  agreeable  to  Napo- 
leon. They  are,  moreover,  the  proof  of  the  care  with 
which  Napoleon  maintained  in  his  person  the  dignity 
of  the  nation  of  which  he  was  the  head.  In  order  to 
make  certain  that  everything  which  his  ambassador 
had  a  right  to  demand  had  been  accorded  to  him  the 
Emperor  charged  the  Masters  of  Ceremonies  to  lay 
before  him  a  report  by  which  he  could  judge  if  any 
slight  had  been  inflicted  upon  Prince  Neufchatel  in 
the  capacity  in  which  he  was  placed  in  Vienna.  Napo- 
leon had  every  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  the  report 
which  was  laid  before  him.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
never  had  an  extraordinary  envoy  been  received  with 
such  attention,  by  so  brilliant  an  assembly  or  had  re- 
ceived, as  well  as  his  suite,  more  handsome  presents. 
On  the  day  of  the  signing  of  the  marriage  contract 
Berthier  had  received  the  portrait  of  the  Emperor  of 
Austria,  surrounded  with  diamonds,  and  attached  to 
the  collar  of  the  order  of  the  Golden  Fleece.  These  out- 
ward and  visible  signs  of  distinction  were  not  wanting 
on  the  part  of  the  Viennese  Court,  which  knew  well 


NAPOLEON    I.  635 

how  to  hide  the  great  discontent  which  it  feU.  If  any- 
body in  these  circumstances  acted  with  good  faith  it 
was  probably  Emperor  Francis  alone.  On  the  14th  of 
March,  the  Arch-duke  Charles  conducted  the  new  Em- 
press to  her  carriage.  After  she  had  received  the  fare- 
wells of  her  family  she  took  leave  of  the  people  of 
Vienna,  whose  blessings  mingled  with  the  sound  of 
the  bells  and  the  cannon.  For  the  first  time  tricolour 
flags  were  displayed  at  the  windows,  and  the  Austrian 
Imperial  band  played  French  martial  airs.  When  the 
procession  had  passed  the  Burg,  the  discharge  of  artil- 
lery on  the  ramparts  announced  the  fact  to  the  town  of 
Vienna.  The  Emperor  Francis  had  preceded  Marie 
Louise  to  Saint-Polten,  where  he  hoped  to  see  his  dar- 
ling daughter  once  more.  I  will  pass  over  the  details  of 
the  reception  at  Branau  and  the  stay  of  Marie  Louise 
at  Munich,  at  Stuttgart,  and  at  Carlsruhe,  where  the 
sovereigns  of  the  different  countries,  through  which 
they  had  passed,  received  her  with  unusual  honours. 

In  spite  of  the  proofs  of  deference  and  the  apparent 
cordiality  of  the  Austrian  Imperial  family;  in  spite  of 
the  frequent  communications  which  took  place  between 
the  Burg  and  the  Tuileries  after  the  Empress's  arrival 
in  France  the  reconciliation  was  not  sincere  on  the  part 
of  the  Austrian  Court  and  aristocracy;  and  manifest 
symptoms  were  to  be  seen  after  the  departure  of  Marie 
Louise.  The  population  of  Vienna,  incited  by  the  Rus- 
sian and  English  agents,  crowded  together  in  the  public 
places  and  in  the  streets.  Loud  complaints  were  made 
on  the  sacrifice  which  had  been  imposed  upon  the  Em- 
peror, and  on  the  fate  of  his  daughter,  handed  over  to 
a  man  who  would  crush  her  with  bad  treatment. 
Another  complaint  was  based  on  the  certain  humilia- 
tion to  which  Austria  would  be  subjected.  The 
authorities  were  obliged  to  take  measures  against  these 
meetings.      M.   de    Metternich   took   the   occasion   of 


636  MEMOIRS    OF 

these  manifestations  to  warn  the  French  Government 
that  they  should  be  considered  in  the  Hght  of  a  hint 
not  to  carry  its  exactions  too  far.  In  this  he  made 
allusion  to  certain  conditions  of  the  last  treaty,  which 
had  not  yet  been  carried  out,  adding  that  the  Emperor 
Francis  would  prefer  to  renounce  the  benefits  of  peace 
rather  than  expose  himself  to  lose  the  popularity  which 
had  helped  him  to  keep  up  courage  in  his  adversity. 
This  disguised  menace  could  not  but  irritate  a  con- 
queror to  whose  moderation  the  sovereign  of  Austria 
owed  the  preservation  of  his  crown.  In  consequence, 
Napoleon  complained  of  the  confidence  reposed  in 
councillors,  vvho  made  a  profession  of  being  his  ene- 
mies, and  demanded  their  dismissal,  but  on  this  point 
he  could  obtain  no  satisfaction. 

In  reprisal  Napoleon  maintained  the  decree  which 
he  had  issued  at  the  commencement  of  the  campaign, 
and  which  ordered  that  very  strict  measures  should  be 
taken  against  all  persons  born  in  the  new  or  old  pro- 
vinces of  France  who  might  be  in  the  service  of  Aus- 
tria, and  who  should  not  return  to  French  territory  be- 
fore a  fixed  date.  All  these  circumstances  together 
were  not  of  a  nature  to  calm  the  reciprocal  irritation 
which  kept  growing  on  every  side.  The  Emperor  felt 
it,  and  not  wishing  to  increase  this  irritation,  for  the 
time  being  granted  an  amnesty  to  the  individjuals  who 
were  menaced  by  the  decree,  on  condition  that  those 
who  wished  to  take  advantage  of  this  amnesty  s^iould 
re-enter  France  before  July  ist,  181 1.  The  convention 
in  consequence  of  which  sequestration  had  been  put  up- 
on the  estates  of  those  born  in  the  provinces  of  the 
Federation  of  the  Rhine,  and  notably  on  the  estates 
of  Prince  Schwarzenberg  and  of  Count  Metternich, 
was  removed.  Later  on  the  Emperor  granted  certain 
individual  authorizations  to  serve  in  Austria,  but  did 
not  recall  his  decrees,  which  were  kept  in  reserve  and 


NAPOLEON    I.  637 

ready  to  receive  their  application  if  hostile  manifesta- 
tions forced  the  French  Government  to  bring  them  into 
action  again. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  peace  of  Vienna,  and  even  the 
marriage,  had  far  from  re-established  a  good  under- 
standing between  the  Cabinets  of  Paris  and  X'ienna. 
Austria  was  humiliated,  but  was  not  crushed.  She 
bent  her  head,  but  was  waiting  with  the  same  feelings 
of  ill-will  and  rancour  for  the  opportunity  to  take  her 
revenge.  In  signing  peace,  or  in  uniting  in  an  alliance 
by  marriage,  the  two  parties  kept  themselves  ready  to 
recommence  the  war.  Napoleon  had  left  Vienna  two 
days  after  the  signing  of  the  treaty  with  some  doubts 
as  to  its  ratification.  He  went  on  to  await  it  first  at 
Passau,  then  at  Munich,  as  we  have  seen,  and  fully 
made  up  his  mind  not  to  go  any  further  away  from 
Vienna,  until  he  had  heard  that  the  ratification  of  this 
peace  had  been  consummated.  The  Emperor  had 
given  orders  that  flags  should  be  used  to  inform  him 
of  the  positive  or  negative  result  of  the  negotiations. 
If  the  ratifications  had  been  exchanged  a  white  flag  was 
to  be  hoisted ;  in  case  of  discussion,  a  red  flag  was  to  be 
floated  as  long  as  the  discussion  lasted. 

Count  Stadion,  one  of  the  most  passionate  chiefs  of 
the  war  party,  had  been  replaced  by  Count  Metternich. 
The  retirement  of  the  former  seemed  to  be  a  sacrifice 
made  to  the  desire  to  maintain  peace;  but  if  the  minis- 
ter was  changed,  the  political  system  was  not.  An  all- 
powerful  oligarchy  governed  the  Viennese  Cabinet  at 
this  time.  This  oligarchy  held  in  its  hands  all  the  de- 
partments of  the  Government;  conservator  of  the  poli- 
tical traditions  of  the  monarchy — traditions  which  sur- 
vive all  events — its  influence  is  constantly  exercised,  in 
a  more  or  less  degree,  according  to  the  sovereign's 
character.  The  House  of  Austria,  founded  by  a 
simple  nobleman  had  raised  ilsclf  only  by  marriages 


638  MEMOIRS    OF 

and  with  the  assistance  of  the  nobility,  which  owned 
two  thirds  of  the  territory;  it  had  always  been  kept 
the  ward  of  this  oligarchy.  Of  the  three  hundred 
families  which  composed  it,  a  very  large  majority  in 
quest  of  Court  favours  had  devoted  themselves  to  the 
first  minister.  Amongst  the  most  important  may  be 
named  the  Lichtenstein,  the  Stadion,  the  Schwarzen- 
berg,  the  Esterhazy,  and  the  Lobkowitz  families.  The 
tendency  of  the  public  mind  towards  emancipation  is 
each  day  weakening  the  influence  of  these  families, 
which  would  be  destroyed  altogether  by  a  strong  king. 
Matrimonial  unions  which  should  be  a  guarantee  of 
'  reconciliation,  were  one  of  the  tricks  used  by  Austria 
to  abate  the  storm,  to  cover  its  designs,  and  to  lull  its 
enemies  to  sleep.  Austria  had  already  practised  this 
tortuous  policy  before  the  war  of  1809,  protesting  its 
pacific  intentions,  denying  its  war  preparations,  but  in 
reality  preparing  to  take  advantage  of  the  first  favour- 
able opportunity  to  recommence  hostilities.  One  of 
the  chiefs  of  the  oligarchy — Prince  Schwarzenberg — 
has  drawn  himself  a  faithful  picture  of  this  situation, 
when,  in  1813,  he  said:  'Tolitics  made  this  marriage; 
and  politics  can  undo  it." 

The  ruin  of  the  empire,  which  was  the  constant  ob- 
.  ject  of  the  efforts  of  the  coalition,  was  effected.  The 
'  admissions  of  the  Cabinets,  the  narratives  of  historians, 
and  time,  has  already  raised  many  curtains ;  and  one 
can  form  an  opinion  upon  the  open  as  well  as  the  secret 
part  which  each  power  played  in  this  work.  One  can, 
moreover,  with  thorough  knowledge  of  the  matter, 
cast  a  retrospective  glance  on  the  circumstances  which 
presided  over  the  drawing  of  the  sword  in  Austria,  in 
1809.  In  this  war  the  coalition  had  extended  its  com- 
binations. Far  from  being  discouraged,  it  had  learnt 
lessons  from  its  mistakes,  and  had  taken  advantage  of 
the  long-suffering  of  the  conqueror  who  on  many  oc- 


NAPOLEON  I.  639 

casions  had  had  the  opportunity  in  his  hands  to  de- 
throne two  of  his  most  powerful  adversaries,  but  w'ho 
nevertheless  had  left  them  their  crowns.  Since  1792 
this  same  coalition  had  come  forward  in  each  struj^^gle 
with  France  separately.  Since  1808  Austria,  who  had 
still  been  left  powerful,  had  repaired  her  losses  and 
had  secretly  organized  herself.  Secret  communica- 
tions drew  together  the  Courts  of  Berlin  and  St.  Peters- 
burg. Prussia  was  greatly  abased,  but  her  military 
system  enabled  her  to  treble  her  standing  army  with 
great  rapidity.  The  secret  object  of  the  visit  of  the 
King  and  Queen  of  Prussia  to  Emperor  Alexander  on 
his  return  from  Erfurth  was  to  discuss  present  and 
future  means  for  injuring  the  common  enemy.  It  was 
a  renewal  of  the  oath  which  had  been  taken  in  1805  on 
the  tomb  of  the  great  Frederick.  The  conduct  of  Rus- 
sia in  the  war  of  1809  and  the  proofs  of  her  inaction 
are  sufficiently  well  known.  The  admissions  of  Col- 
onel Bourtourlin  have  finally  placed  her  attitude  in  its 
true  light.  The  bands  organized  by  the  Duke  of  Bruns- 
wick-Oels,  by  Schill,  Katt,  Doernberg,  and  others,  as 
also  secret  societies,  were  formed  or  extended.  Pro- 
clamation of  war  against  one  man  alone  was  renewed 
amongst  them  with  the  unavowed  resentment  of  the 
monarchs,  and  lying  pamphlets  once  more  provoked 
to  insurrection  or  revolt  the  peoples  subjected  to  the 
hegemony  of  France.  Agents  charged  with  the  work 
of  creating  enemies  to  the  French  Emperor,  and  of  in- 
citing public  opinion  against  the  head  of  our  country, 
went  through  Germany,  Spain.  Portugal,  and  Italy, 
flattering  the  Italians  with  tlie  prospect  of  an  Italian 
fatherland  which  should  Ije  independent  of  the 
foreigner.  In  France  these  agents  addressed  them- 
selves to  men  of  all  parties,  to  the  Royalists  as  to  the 
Republicans,  took  advantage  of  the  intriguing  spirit  of 
one   individual — a  busybody   who   has   gained   a   sad 


640  MEMOIRS    OF 

notoriety  whilst  another  person  (let  his  name  be 
guessed)  simply  participated  in  these  intrigues,  and 
worked  with  a  purpose  no  less  hostile  towards  his 
master,  to  win  favour  abroad.  These  emissaries  found 
their  way  into  the  great  corporations  of  the  state,  and 
even  insinuated  themselves  into  the  armies,  where 
they  tried  to  awaken  discouragement,  and  a  lassitude 
for  war.  Stores  of  arms  and  ammunition  were  col- 
lected together  in  the  English  possessions,  islands,  or 
points  under  British  influence  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
continent.  A  great  gathering  composed  of  forty 
thousand  men  assembled  in  various  English  ports,  and 
held  itself  in  readiness  to  act;  but  its  destination  re- 
mained unknown;  for  what  was  expected  from  all 
these  combinations  was  a  general  war,  the  signal  for 
which  was  to  be  given  by  Austria.  The  slightest  suc- 
cess obtained  by  this  power  would  have  sufficed  to  let 
loose  against  France  an  eighth  coalition  in  which  our 
secret  enemies  would  at  last  have  been  able  to  show 
themselves  unmasked.  If  in  the  year  1809,  our  active 
enemies  were  the  English,  Austrians,  Spaniards,  and 
the  Portuguese,  the  Prussians  and  the  Russians  were 
our  passive  enemies,  secretly  preparing  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  events.  To  these  may  be  added  the  Princes 
,  of  the  Federation  of  the  Rhine,  who  would  have  fol- 
lowed the  general  movement  if  the  Austrian  Army 
had  succeeded  in  making  a  stand  on  their  territories. 

This  hasty  picture  of  the  secret  plan  of  the  coali- 
tion is  incomplete  rather  than  exaggerated.  The  ob- 
serving mind  of  General  Pelet  has  collected  its  princi- 
pal features  with  ample  developments  and  proofs  of 
what  he  advances  in  his  excellent ''  Historv  of  the  War 
of  1809." 

Some  of  these  plans  at  least  were  known  to  the  Em- 
peror. He  had  no  means  of  preventing  the  bad  faith 
of  his  enemies,  and  as  to  the  plans  which  had  been  de- 


NAPOLEON    I.  641 

cided  upon  and  the  means  of  execution  which  had 
been  prepared,  tliese  were  hidden  under  the  greatest 
mystery,  and  disguised  under  false  demonstrations. 

Count  Pozzo  de  Borgo  said  to  me  in  181 5,  in  the 
lx>asting  way  which  Italians  have :  "Napoleon  only 
wanted  one  man  to  have  become  the  master  of  the 
world.  1  am  that  man.  1  could  have  revealed  to  him 
the  secret  of  the  Cabinets,  and  I  could  have  informed 
him  of  what  was  being  planned  against  him;  but  there 
was  no  possibility  of  our  ever  coming  together.  If  he 
had  got  me  into  his  hands  he  would  have  had  me 
hanged  as  soon  as  he  had  found  out  who  I  was." 
There  was  a  great  deal  of  truth  in  what  Pozzo  said. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  Austria's  future  defection, 
which  took  place  in  1813,  had  been  decided  in  petto,  on 
the  day  on  which  this  power  signed  the  Peace  of  Vien- 
na, which  in  reality  was  only  a  truce,  as  were  all  the 
treaties  of  peace  signed  by  the  Coalition.  The  result 
of  the  marriage  w^as  only  to  suspend  the  effect  of  these 
hostile  feelings.  The  House  of  Austria,  which  owes 
its  aggrandizement  to  matrimonial  alliances,  hoped  to 
recover  possession  of  the  provinces  which  it  had  lost 
by  this  means.  Its  hopes  not  having  been  realized  by 
the  sacrifice  of  one  of  its  Arch-duchesses,  Napoleon 
could  no  longer  rely  on  it.  Victory  had  consecrated 
the  adoption  of  the  master  of  France  into  the  society 
of  kings,  but  the  kings  had  protested  against  his  ad- 
mission amongst  royal  dynasties.  They  hoped  to  be  able 
to  cast  him  out  from  amongst  them  sooner  or  later; 
with  them  it  was  only  a  question  of  time.  There  is  where 
the  danger  lay  for  Napoleon.  He  thought  himself  suTti- 
ciently  strong  to  defy  this  danger;  which  meant 
that  he  condemned  him.self  to  the  performance  of  con- 
stant prodigies.  I  le  never  could  believe  that  the  sover- 
eigns of  Iuir(jpe  would  overthrow  him,  for  he  con- 
sidered that  his  ruin  would  be  contrary  to  their  inter- 


642  MEMOIRS    OF 

ests  as  best  understood.  They  had  no  longer  reason  to 
fear  that  he  would  let  loose  public  passions.  England's 
hatred,  England's  gold,  and  England's  intrigues 
aroused  their  dynastic  pride,  and  kept  alive  amongst 
the  kings  by  their  ministers  and  by  their  aristocracy, 
blinded  them  to  their  true  interests.  More  than  one 
amongst  them  regretted  it  after  the  fall  of  the  Em- 
peror. Some  say  that  they  wished  to  prevent  it.  It  is 
difficult  to  believe  in  the  sincerity  of  these  assertions, 
for  their  organs  have  revealed  what  they  did  towards 
this  alleged  purpose.  The  league  then  was  general. 
It  would  have  unmasked  itself  as  early  as  in  1809,  if 
Austria  had  been  able  to  surprise  us,  as  she  hoped  to 
do.  The  Emperor,  by  striking  those  rapid  and  decisive 
blows  which  upset  the  plans  of  the  coalition,  only  post- 
poned for  four  years  what  it  accomplished  in  18 14. 

I  have  spoken  of  Pozzo  de  Borgo,  and  I  will  take 
advantage  to  give  some  details  about  a  person  who  was 
one  of  Napoleon's  most  active  enemies.  I  hold  them 
in  part  from  Count  Pozzo  de  Borgo  himself. 

Attached  as  much  by  friendship  as  by  conformity 
of  opinions  to  Joseph  and  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  Pozzo 
was  in  1790,  a  member  of  the  Directorate  of  the  de- 
partment of  Corsica,  with  Joseph.  Pozzo's  abandon- 
ment of  the  French  party  separated  them.  When  the 
English  occupied  the  island  where  Lord  Elliot,  com- 
manded in  the  capacity  of  Viceroy,  Pozzo  accepted 
employment  at  their  hands  and  rendered  them  services. 
The  Corsicans  having  shaken  off  the  British  yoke, 
Pozzo,  who  had  drawn  upon  himself  the  hatred  of  his 
countrymen,  finding  it  no  longer  safe  to  remain  in  the 
island  after  the  departure  of  his  protectors,  followed 
them  in  their  retreat  and  took  refuge  in  England. 
Lord  Elliot  having  been  sent  shortly  afterwards  to  St. 
Petersburg,  Pozzo  accompanied  him.  The  English 
minister  entrusted  him  with  several  missions  to  the 


NAPOLEON    I.  643 

Emperor  of  Russia,  who  appreciated  his  spirit  of  in- 
trigue and  his  talents.  The  Enghsh  do  not  hke  for- 
eigners, the  Russians  on  the  other  hand  give  employ- 
ment to  all  who  otter  themselves.  Lord  Elliot  tinding 
in  the  Emperor  Alexander's  good  will  for  Pozzo  a 
means  of  rewarding  him  for  the  services  he  had 
rendered  to  England,  and  of  getting  rid  of  this  for- 
eigner in  an  honourable  manner,  offered  him  to  the 
Czar,  who  admitted  him  later  to  his  Cabinet,  and  gave 
him  the  rank  of  General-Major.  This  turn-coat,  this 
protege  of  the  English,  having  by  his  past  conduct 
rendered  all  return  to  the  fatherland  impossible,  what 
reasons  had  he  not  to  persevere  in  the  way  on  which 
chance  had  placed  him!  He  became  one  of  the  most 
active  enemies  of  the  French  Imperial  Government. 
Sent  to  the  various  European  cabinets  he  created 
enemies  to  France,  and  signed  treaties  with  them  with 
this  object  in  view.  Pozzo  de  Borgo  found  himself 
in  1809  in  Austria,  charged  with  a  secret  mission.  At 
the  time  of  the  occupation  of  Vienna  he  followed  the 
Court  to  Buda.  The  Austrian  ministers,  feeling  that 
his  presence  might  injure  their  negotiations  with  Napo- 
leon, and  having  learnt  that,  far  from  claiming  this 
agent,  the  Russians  disavowed  him.  then  told  Pozzo 
that  he  could  be  no  longer  protected  by  Austria, 
Pozzo,  fearing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  French 
fled  to  Constantinople,  and  arrived  there  after  a  thou- 
sand dangers,  crossing  over  Hungary  and  the  moun- 
tain ranges  in  the  greatest  state  of  destitution.  I  will 
add  to  the  details  which  I  have  given  of  Count  de 
Borgo,  what  was  said  about  him  to  Count  d'Orsay, 
from  whom  I  heard  it,  by  the  late  Marquis  Wellesley, 
the  eldest  bnjther  of  Lord  Wellington,  who  was  at 
that  time  head  of  the  English  Caijinet.  Pozzo  de 
Borgo  having  escaped  from  Austria,  repudiated  by 
the  Russian  Cabinet,  retired  from  Constantinople  to 
H — Mcmuira  Vol.  7 


644  MEMOIRS  OF 

Odessa,  where  he  wrote  a  pamphlet  on  the  politics  of 
the  time.  The  Marquis  Wellesley  having  read  this 
pamphlet  was  surprised  and  delighted  to  find  that  the 
ideas  expressed  in  it  were  absolutely  in  harmony  with 
his  own.  He  made  inquiries  as  to  what  had  become 
of  the  author;  if  he  were  any  longer  in  receipt  of  the 
pension  which  the  English  Government  had  granted 
him,  and  gave  orders  that  the  arrears  should  be  paid 
to  him,  and  at  the  same  he  brought  Pozzo  de  Borgo  to 
England.  Struck  by  the  interest  of  his  conversation 
and  the  originality  of  his  views  the  Marquis  would  not 
allow  so  valuable  an  agent  to  remain  without  employ- 
ment. In  consequence,  he  sent  him  off  to  Russia  with 
very  warm  letters  of  recommendation.  Pozzo  decided 
that  he  could  do  nothing  better  than  take  up  his  cross 
once  more,  and  forget  his  grievances.  He  became 
more  than  ever  the  dme  damnee  of  the  Russian  Gov- 
ernment, and  of  the  coalition.  He  resumed  his  diplo- 
matic missions  with  renewed  ardour,  and  was  especial- 
ly employed  in  the  last  campaign.  It  was  he  who  con- 
tributed in  pushing  on  the  Russians  to  Paris  in  1814. 
He  had  promised  them  that  it  was  in  his  power  to  open 
its  gates  for  them.  The  secret  understanding  on  which 
he  had  counted,  having  failed  him,  his  perplexity  was 
extreme,  and  he  passed  the  most  critical  night  of  his 
life  before  Paris.  His  head  was  at  stake  if  his 
promises  could  not  be  realized.  On  the  morrow  he 
triumphed  as  he  joined  in  the  procession  of  the  sover- 
eigns on  their  entrance  by  the  Pantin  gate.  Grand- 
Duke  Constantine  came  up  to  him  and  said :  "  Pozzo, 
it  is  a  happy  day  for  you.  If  we  were  not  here,  you 
would  be  hanging !  " 

The  Empress  had  arrived  on  French  territory,  and 
her  journey  from  Strasburg  to  Compiegne  was  one 
continual  ovation.     Almost  at  every  place  where  she 


NAPOLEON    I.  645 

stopped  she  found  an  officer,  or  page  of  the  imperial 
household,  with  letters  to  her  from  the  Emperor.  At 
Strasburg  she  saw  Count  Metternich  who  was  on  his 
way  to  Paris,  and  at  Vitry  she  received  Prince  Schwar- 
zenberg  and  Countess  Metternich,  who  started  back- 
to  Paris  whence  they  had  come,  after  having  been 
presented  to  her.  The  Emperor  had  given  orders  that 
during  the  journey,  news  of  the  Princess  should  be 
sent  to  her  father  every  day. 

Napoleon  remained  alone  at  Compiegne  for  a  week. 
He  had  the  apartment  intended  for  the  future  Em- 
press fitted  up,  and  presided  in  person  over  the  ar- 
rangements which  he  thought  would  please  her  best. 
He  approved  or  modified  what  was  being  done,  hurry- 
ing on  the  preparations  for  the  reception  which  he 
intended  to  give  her,  and  writing  to  her  with  his  own 
hand  every  day.  When  Marie  Louise  had  set  foot  on 
French  territory  Napoleon  sent  bouquets  of  the  most 
beautiful  flowers  with  his  letters,  and  sometimes  game 
which  he  had  shot.  He  was  delighted  with  the  an- 
swers which  he  received  from  her,  many  of  which 
were  very  long.  These  answers  were  written  in  good 
French,  and  expressed  sentiments  marked  by  delicacy 
and  measure.  It  may  be  that  the  Queen  of  Naples  as- 
sisted in  their  composition.  Napoleon's  sister  used 
also  to  write  letters  to  her  brother,  full  of  details  which 
interested  him  greatly. 

The  Emperor,  being  pressed  by  his  other  sister, 
Princess  Pauline,  who  was  a  well-known  authority  on 
matters  of  elegance  and  good  taste,  had  consented  to 
have  a  fancy  dress  ornamented  with  embroidery,  made 
by  Lcger,  who  was  then  the  most  fashionable  tailor. 
Napoleon  tried  it  on  but  did  not  feel  at  ease  in  it.  The 
cut  of  the  coat  and  the  white  cravat  which  was  worn 
with  it,  did  not  suit  his  taste,  and  deprived  him  of  his 
usual  ease  of  manner.     The  uniform  which  he  always 


646  MEMOIRS    OF 

wore,  and  a  black  cravat  were  the  only  things  which 
suited  him,  perhaps  because  one  was  accustomed  to 
see  him  always  dressed  in  military  uniform.  How- 
ever it  may  be,  the  Emperor  only  once  wore  the  cos- 
tume which  Princess  Pauline  had  advised  him  to  have 
made.  He  went  back  to  the  blue  uniform  turned  up 
with  white,  which  he  used  to  wear  on  Sundays  and 
feast  days,  reserving-  the  green  coat  of  the  light  cav- 
alry of  the  guard  for  ordinary  days. 

Tents  had  been  put  up  two  leagues  from  Soissons, 
and  access  to  these  was  gained  by  two  inclined  planes, 
one  on  the  Soissons  and  one  on  the  Compiegne  side. 
According  to  the  ceremonial  which  had  been  decided 
upon,  the  Emperor  was  to  leave  Compiegne  with  the 
Princes  and  Princesses  of  his  family,  the  Grand  Offi- 
cers, and  the  officers  of  the  household,  preceded  and 
followed  by  detachments  of  his  guard.  He  was  to 
pass  through  the  first  tent  on  the  Compiegne  side, 
whilst  the  Empress  was  to  pass  through  the  tent  on  the 
Soissons  side.  The  two  spouses  were  to  stop  in  the 
middle  tent  before  an  ottoman  footstool,  on  which  the 
Empress  was  to  bend  down,  to  be  immediately  raised 
by  the  Emperor,  w-ho  would  embrace  her.  After  this, 
both  would  enter  a  carriage  with  six  places,  together 
with  the  Princesses.  The  two  processions  would  then 
unite  and  form  themselves  into  one.  This  ceremonial 
was  not  observed,  the  Emperor  having  received  a  let- 
ter from  the  Empress,  in  which  he  was  informed  of 
her  departure  from  Soissons.  He  decided  to  go  and 
meet  her  at  once.  He  ordered  an  open  carriage,  on 
which  no  armorial  bearings  were  painted,  to  be  got 
ready,  entered  it  with  the  King  of  Naples,  and,  pre- 
ceded by  one  solitary  outrider,  started  incognito  from 
Compiegne.  He  sent  for  me,  and  when  I  arrived  I 
found  him  already  seated  in  his  carriage  with  the  King 
of  Naples  by  his  side.     He  ordered  me  to  open  all 


NAPOLEON    I.  647 

despatches  which  might  come  for  him,  and  to  keep 
tliem.  He  told  me  that  he  was  going  to  meet  the  Em- 
press, that  he  would  be  back  in  the  evening,  and 
ordered  me  to  keep  the  object  of  his  journey  secret. 
He  returned  to  Compiegne,  as  he  had  said,  at  ten 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  in  fearful  weather.  He  had 
fallen  in  with  the  Empress's  procession  some  leagues 
beyond  Soissons.  Napoleon  had  approached  her  car- 
riage without  being  recognized,  when  the  equerry 
named  him,  and  put  an  end  to  his  incognito.  He  then 
entered  the  Empress's  carriage,  where  the  Queen  of 
Naples  was  sitting,  and  ordered  that  instead  of  stay- 
ing at  Soissons.  the  carriages  should  continue  to  Com- 
piegne. There  the  rumour  had  got  abroad  that  the 
Empress  was  to  arrive  that  same  evening.  Illumina- 
tions were  prepared  in  haste,  the  triumphal  arches  were 
adorned,  and  the  whole  population  in  crowds  went,  in 
spite  of  the  bad  weather,  to  meet  Their  Majesties. 
The  courts  and  the  galleries  of  the  palace,  which  were 
open  to  the  public,  were  filled  with  the  curious.  At 
ten  o'clock  the  cannon  announced  the  arrival  of  the 
procession,  which  crossed  the  avenue  rapidly  by  torch- 
light. The  Princes  and  Princesses  who  were  waiting 
where  the  carriages  stopped  were  presented  to  the 
Empress  by  the  Emperor.  The  authorities  of  the 
town  were  assembled  in  the  gallery,  and  a  group  of 
young  girls  presented  to  Marie  Louise  an  address  and 
flowers.  Prince  Schwarzenberg,  the  Austrian  ambas- 
sador, was  present.  After  this  short  ceremonial,  the 
Empress  immediately  withdrew  to  her  aj)artment,  con- 
ducted by  the  Emperor,  who  supped  with  her  and  with 
the  Queen  of  Naples. 

Marie  Louise,  then  in  all  the  splendour  of  her  youth, 
had  a  bust  of  perfect  regularity.  The  bodice  of  her 
dress  was  longer  than  used  to  be  worn  at  the  time. 
which  added  to  her  natural  dignity,  and  contrasted 


648  MEMOIRS    OF 

very  well  with  the  ugly,  short  bodices  of  our  ladies. 
Her  face  was  flushed  with  the  journey  and  by  her 
nervousness.  Pale  chestnut  hair,  silky  and  abundant, 
framed  a  fresh  full  face,  over  which  eyes,  full  of 
sweetness,  spread  a  charming  expression.  Her  lips, 
which  were  rather  thick,  recalled  the  type  of  the  Aus- 
trian ruling  family,  just  as  a  slight  convexity  of  the 
nose  is  the  characteristic  of  the  Princes  of  the  House 
of  Bourbon.  Candour  and  innocence  were  breathed 
from  all  her  person,  and  a  plumpness,  which  left  her 
after  her  confinement,  bespoke  a  good  state  of  health. 

Napoleon  imitated  Henri  IV.  towards  Marie  de 
Medicis,  under  similar  circumstances.  An  apartment 
had  been  prepared  for  the  Emperor  at  the  chancellor's 
house,  but  his  impatience  preventing  him  from  sub- 
mitting to  this  part  of  the  ceremony,  he  did  not  leave 
the  palace,  which  left  a  free  field  for  conjecture.  The 
first  introduction  of  the  new  Empress  into  the  inte- 
rior of  the  palace  took  place  the  next  day  in  the  Em- 
peror's cabinet.  Did  he  mean  to  show  her  by  this  that 
he  initiated  her  into  his  entire  confidence,  or  did  he 
consider  that  his  workroom  was  the  most  important 
room  in  his  house?  It  was  thus  that  I  was  amongst 
the  first  who  had  the  honour  of  presenting  my  respects 
to  the  Empress  Marie  Louise.  At  one  o'clock  took 
place  the  introduction  of  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of 
the  household,  who  had  not  taken  part  in  the  journey 
from  Braunau,  and  these  took  the  oath  of  allegiance. 
Then  came  the  generals  of  the  guard,  the  ministers 
who  were  at  Compiegne,  the  chief  officers,  and  the 
ladies  and  gentlemen  in  waiting  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed to  be  in  attendance  during  the  journey  from 
Compiegne. 

On  the  following  day  the  court  left  for  St.  Cloud, 
where  it  spent  two  days.  The  civil  marriage  was 
celebrated  there  on  April  ist,  and  the  religious  mar- 


NAPOLEON    I.  649 

riage  took  place  the  next  day  in  Paris  in  the  great 
gallery  of  the  Louvre  Museum.  The  cardinals,  who 
had  been  present  at  the  civil  marriage,  with  two  ex- 
ceptions, refused  to  be  present  at  the  religious  mar- 
riage, alleging  in  justification  that  the  only  reason  of 
their  absence  was  that  the  Pope  had  refused  to  grant 
a  dissolution  of  the  first  marriage.  The  Emperor 
would  not  admit  this  excuse,  refused  to  receive  their 
protestations  of  obedience,  and  exiled  them  into  vari- 
ous departments,  forbidding  them  to  wear  red,  which 
is  the  exterior  mark  of  their  dignity.  This  gave  them 
the  name  of  "  The  Black  Cardinals." 

On  the  morning  of  the  day  of  the  celebration  of 
the  religious  marriage  the  Emperor  was  present  at 
the  Empress's  toilette.  The  ladies-in-waiting — two 
French,  and  one  Italian — and  the  Mistress  of  the 
Robes,  placed  the  crown  on  the  Empress's  head  in  his 
presence.  A  decision  had  been  made  by  the  Emperor 
concerning  this  crown  in  the  following  words: — 

"  On  the  day  of  the  marriage  the  Empress  will 
wear  the  coronation  crown,  which  is  not  handsome, 
but  which  has  a  particular  characteristic,  and  which 
I  wish  to  attach  to  my  dynasty.  This  crow'n  will  only 
be  worn  at  the  very  greatest  ceremonies.  In  ordinary 
ceremonies  the  Empress  will  wear  the  closed  diamond 
crown,  which  has  no  characteristic,  and  which  I  am 
having  made  for  her  with  the  crown  diamonds.  On 
the  day  after  the  marriage  she  will  wear  the  closed 
diamond  crown  at  her  reception. 

"  N.^POLEON. 
"  Given  at  CoMPitcNE,  2Sth  March,  1810.' 

Public  rejoicings  took  place  in  the  park  of  St.  Cloud 
after  the  civil  ceremony.  There  was  a  general  illumi- 
nation,   the    fountains    played    under    torchlight,    and 


650  MEMOIRS    OF 

there  were  repeated  salvos  of  artillery  fired  at  the 
Invalides  in  Paris.  Immense  crowds  took  part  in 
these  rejoicings  in  spite  of  the  rain. 

The  solemn  entry  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress  into 
Paris  on  April  2nd  was  magnificent.  The  triumphal 
arch  at  the  fitoile  Barrier,  under  which  the  sovereigns 
passed,  had  been  figured  by  a  decoration  which 
showed  it  as  it  would  be  when  it  was  finished.  The 
weather  which  had  been  rainy  the  day  before  had 
become  fine,  and  a  bright  sun  shed  its  rays  on  the 
procession,  the  troops,  and  the  crowd  of  spectators, 
composed  of  almost  the  entire  population  of  Paris. 
Their  Majesties  were  received  at  the  fitoile  Barrier  by 
the  Prefect  of  the  Seine  department,  and  by  the  munic- 
ipal body.  The  procession  arrived  at  the  Tuileries 
Palace  by  crossing  the  Champs-filysees,  and  the  gar- 
den, at  the  entrance  to  which  a  triumphal  arch  had 
been  raised.  After  having  rested  in  the  drawing- 
rooms  of  the  palace,  and  in  the  Diana  Gallery,  the 
procession  proceeded  towards  the  great  Apollo  draw- 
ing-room of  the  museum,  where  a  chapel  had  been 
installed.  The  Queens  of  Spain,  of  Holland,  and  of 
Westphalia,  Princesses  Elisa  and  Pauline,  carried  the 
train  of  the  Empress's  mantle.  Cardinal  Fesch,  the 
Grand  Almoner,  pronounced  the  nuptial  benediction 
over  the  spouses.  After  the  ceremony  the  ladies  who 
had  placed  the  crown  on  the  Empress's  head,  removed 
it  and  the  imperial  mantle,  which  were  carried  back  to 
Notre  Dame  by  the  First  Chamberlain,  Master  of  the 
Wardrobe.  This  officer  had  been  to  fetch  them  in  the 
morning  with  a  ceremonial,  which  was  also  observed 
on  the  return  of  these  insignia  to  the  Cathedral  treas- 
ury, where  they  were  to  remain.  Leaving  the  Apollo 
drawing-room  the  Emperor,  taking  the  Empress's 
hand,  placed  himself  with  her  on  the  balcony  of  the 
Pavilion  de  I'Horloge,  where  they  were  present  at  the 


NAPOLEON    I.  651 

march  past  of  the  various  bodies  of  the  imperial  guard. 
A  banquet  was  given  in  the  theatre,  and  Their  Ma- 
jesties listened  to  a  concert  which  was  executed  under 
the  windows  of  the  palace.  This  concert  was  followed 
by  a  display  of  fireworks  which  reached  right  down 
to  the  whole  length  of  the  big  avenue  of  the  Champs- 
£lysees. 

A  description  of  all  the  fetes  given  on  the  occasion 
of  Napoleon's  marriage  with  ]\Iarie  Louise  would  give 
but  a  too  feeble  and  imperfect  picture  of  their  magnif- 
icence, and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Paris  population; 
but  they  will  be  remembered  for  a  very  long  time. 

The  city  of  Paris  wished  the  richness  and  beauty 
of  its  presents  to  correspond  to  the  splendour  of  such 
a  marriage.  It  offered  a  toilette  table,  with  all  its 
fittings,  in  silver  gilt,  to  the  Empress,  the  armchair 
and  swing-glass  being  also  in  silver  gilt.  This  set  had 
been  carried  out  from  designs  of  the  best  artists  and 
under  their  personal  supervision.  So  perfect  was  this 
masterpiece  that  when  M.  Ballouhcy,  steward  of  the 
Empress's  purse  demanded  it  in  her  name,  in  1814, 
together  with  the  cradle  of  the  King  of  Rome,  Count 
Beugnot,  who  was  at  that  time  Commissary  of 
the  Police  Department,  refused  to  hand  them  over. 
He  alleged,  in  refusing  their  restitution,  that  it  would 
be  quite  impossible  to  replace  them,  considering  that 
the  combination  of  circumstances  which  had  given 
birth  to  these  masterpieces  could  not  present  itself 
again,  and  that  consequently  the  artists,  in  spite  of  all 
their  talents,  would  be  unable  to  produce  work  of 
equal  beauty.  This  toilette  table  and  accessories  were 
melted  down  in  1832,  and  the  money  was  used  for  re- 
lieving families  who  had  suffered  by  the  cholera,  but 
the  King  of  Rome's  cradle  was  spared.  Marie  Louise 
had  it  sent  to  her  son,  who  had  it  placed  in  the  Im- 
perial treasury  at  Vienna,  where  it  still  is.     The  pres- 


652  MEMOIRS    OF 

ent  to  Napoleon  by  the  city  of  Paris  consisted  of  a 
magnificent  table  service  in  silver  gilt.  By  order  of 
the  Emperor  the  two  hundred  thousand  florins  given 
by  Austria  as  the  dowry  of  Marie  Louise,  were  paid 
into  the  public  treasury. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  fetes  and  ceremonies 
the  court  returned  to  Compiegne  where  a  grand  diplo- 
matic reception  took  place,  and  distinguished  for- 
eigners were  presented.  Whilst  there  Napoleon  re- 
ceived many  letters  of  congratulation  from  almost  all 
the  foreign  courts.  The  castle  of  Compiegne  had  been 
decorated  and  furnished  with  an  elegance  and  taste 
worthy  of  its  destination.  Amongst  other  rooms  in 
Marie  Louise's  occupation  was  a  boudoir  hung  with 
a  profusion  of  cashmeres  of  inestimable  value.  The 
Princess  had  these  cashmeres  taken  down  later  on, 
but  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  had  only  been  placed 
there  as  a  present  to  her,  and  to  be  used  as  she  thought 
fit. 

The  Empress  Josephine  had  enjoyed  great  liberty 
at  home.  She  had  many  acquaintances.  Her  desire 
to  serve  the  Emperor,  and  to  increase  his  popularity, 
prompted  her  to  cultivate  relations  which  she  had 
preserved,  and  to  extend  them.  The  Emperor's  mar- 
riage with  a  foreign  Princess,  who  was  not  yet  very 
experienced,  and  was  unknown  to  Parisian  society, 
made  it  of  course  necessary  to  modify  this  manner  of 
life,  and  the  household  of  the  new  Empress  had  to  be 
organized  in  a  less  independent  manner.  The  pre- 
cautions with  which  she  was  surrounded  were  taken 
in  order  to  keep  her  away  from  all  attempts  at  in- 
trigue and  coterie,  but  the  isolation  produced  by  these 
precautions  brought  with  it  grave  disadvantages  which 
only  became  manifest  later  on.  Napoleon  appointed 
the  Duchess  of  Montebello,  widow  of  Marshal  Lannes, 
who  had  been  killed  at  the  battle  of  Essling,  lady  of 


NAPOLEON    I.  6.;3 

honour  to  the  Empress  Marie  Louise.  He  had  hesi- 
tated some  time  between  her  and  the  Princess  de  Bcau- 
vau.  Napoleon  abandoned  the  idea  of  selecting  Ma- 
dame de  Beauvau  because  he  thought  that  it  would  not 
be  wise  to  introduce  into  his  court  influences  opposed 
to  national  ideas,  influences  to  which  a  German  Prin- 
cess, in  whom  the  prejudice  of  caste  and  of  birth  might 
be  supposed  to  exist,  would  have  been  subjected.  Ac- 
cordingly he  decided  on  the  duchess,  thinking  that  he 
owed  this  mark  of  distinction  to  the  memory  of  one 
of  his  oldest  and  bravest  comrades  in  arms.  His 
choice  met  with  general  approval.  Madame  de  Monte- 
bello  was  ten  years  older  than  the  Empress,  a  very 
beautiful  woman,  cold,  calm,  and  of  irreproachable 
conduct,  and  in  appointing  her  the  Emperor  had  said : 
"  I  am  giving  the  Empress  a  real  lady  of  honour." 
The  Countess  de  Lugay,  a  gentle,  inoffensive  lady  of 
great  morality  and  excellent  manners,  became  the  Mis- 
tress of  the  Robes.  The  interior  service,  which  at  the 
time  of  the  Empress  Josephine  had  consisted  of  four 
dames  d'annoncc  was  augmented  by  two  more  ladies 
whose  attributions  were  of  a  more  austere  nature. 
They  were  chosen  from  amongst  the  residents  of  the 
Ecouen  Royal  and  Imperial  House,  preference  being 
given  to  widows  or  daughters  of  officers.  One  of 
them,  Madame  Durand,  was  the  widow  of  a  general. 
They  served  the  Empress  in  the  same  way  as  the 
aides-de-camp  served  the  Emperor,  except  that  they 
did  not  accompany  her  out  of  doors.  They  were  con- 
sequently near  the  sovereign's  person  during  the  day, 
and  during  the  night  one  of  them  slept  in  a  room  ad- 
joining Marie  Louise's  apartment.  They  allowed  no 
man  to  enter  her  private  apartment;  such  were  their 
orders.  They  were  present  at  her  drawing  and  music 
lessons,  they  wrote  notes  at  her  dictation,  or  at  her 
order,  and  presided  over  the  whole  interior  service. 


654  MEMOIRS    OF 

The  Empress's  private  allowance  was  £2000  per 
month.  Ten  thousand  francs  were  distributed  each 
month  to  the  poor,  this  distribution  taking  place  with 
prudence,  and  after  full  inquiries  had  been  made.  The 
balance  was  used  for  toilette  expenses.  Marie  Louise 
was  economical,  and  took  care  never  to  exceed  her 
allowance.  She  gave  many  presents,  and  always  kept 
in  reserve  in  her  writing-table  a  purse  of  £1000,  which 
she  never  touched. 

The  poets  all  vied  with  each  other  in  celebrating  the 
great  event  of  the  marriage.  Fouche  had  given  them 
a  hint  on  this  subject,  but  the  Emperor  had  blamed 
him,  because  he  did  not  wish  to  appear  to  have  ordered 
these  praises.  Napoleon  wished  the  authors  to  be  left 
to  their  own  inspirations,  which  moreover  had  no 
need  of  being  stimulated.  Later  on  he  made  use  of 
a  sum  of  100,000  francs,  which  was  taken  from  his 
privy  purse,  and  distributed  it  as  a  proof  of  his  satis- 
faction. 

Whilst  the  French  muses,  interpreting  the  public 
feeling,  were  paying  their  tribute  of  homage  to  the 
spouses,  less  sincere  demonstrations  were  taking  place 
at  the  castle  of  Valengay.  Rivalry  of  adulation  estab- 
lished itself  there  amongst  the  dethroned  Spanish 
Princes.  A  Te  Demn  was  chanted  in  their  chapel. 
They  presided  at  a  banquet  given  by  themselves  in 
honour  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  at  which  the 
most  flattering  toasts,  accompanied  by  the  most  obse- 
quious compliments  were  drunk  to  the  health  of  the 
royal  couple,  added  to  the  often  repeated  acclamations 
and  cheers  of  Prince  Ferdinand.  The  Monitcur,  which 
gave  an  account  of  this  feast,  related  that  the  Prince 
proposed  the  health  of  Their  Majesties  in  the  follow- 
ing words :  "  To  the  health  of  our  august  sovereigns, 
the  great  Napoleon,  and  Marie  Louise  his  august 
wife."     A  display  of  fireworks  brought  to  a  close  a 


NAPOLEON    I.  655 

fete  the  magnificence  of  which  could  deceive  nobody. 
To  crown  it  in  a  worthy  manner  Prince  Ferdinand 
begged  the  Emperor  to  adopt  him  as  his  son,  and  to 
grant  him  the  honour  of  allowing  him  to  figure  at  his 
Court.  Such  an  entire  want  of  dignity  created  a  pain- 
ful feeling  everywhere. 

Another  scene,  in  which  Fouchc's  police  played  the 
principal  part,  took  place  at  the  same  time  at  the 
Chateau  of  Valengay.  A  certain  Baron  de  Kolli,  fur- 
nished with  instructions,  powers,  and  money  by  the 
Marquis  of  W'ellesley,  had  been  charged  with  the  mis- 
sion to  help  Ferdinand  and  the  other  Spanish  Princes 
to  escape,  and  to  conduct  them  to  Admiral  Cockburn, 
who,  with  a  small  fleet  was  awaiting  the  success  of 
this  attempt  near  the  coast.  The  mission  of  the  agent 
of  the  English  Government  having  become  known,  he 
was  arrested.  His  credentials  were  put  into  the  hands 
of  a  police  agent,  who  went  and  played  the  part  of 
Baron  de  Kolli  to  Ferdinand.  But  whether  the  Prince 
of  the  Asturias  had  been  secretly  warned  of  the  sub- 
stitution, whether  he  suspected  a  trap,  or  did  not  dare 
to  risk  the  adventure,  he  received  Fouche's  agent  very 
badly,  and  reported  him  to  the  governor  of  the  cas- 
tle. The  genuine  Baron  de  Kolli  remained  in  prison 
in  Vincennes  until  the  return  of  the  Bourbons,  who 
restored  him  to  liberty. 

After  the  success  of  the  campaign  in  Spain,  King 
Joseph  had  returned  to  Madrid,  and  had  been  able  to 
devote  himself  to  the  interior  government  of  the  coun- 
try, in  which  he  had  effected  some  useful  reforms. 
Almost  all  the  powers  had  acknowledged  the  new 
King,  and  had  addressed  him  letters  of  congratulation. 
Ferdinand  had  not  failed  to  send  his  congratulations, 
and  had  asked  him  to  intercede  for  him  with  the  Em- 
peror, to  induce  him  to  grant  him  the  hand  of  one  of 
his  nieces.     The  first  military  events  which  had  hap- 


656  MEMOIRS    OF 

pened  In  Spain  had  been  favourable  to  our  army. 
Saragossa  had  surrendered,  and  important  victories 
had  been  gained  over  the  enemy.  Suddenly  a  new 
English  army,  under  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley,  who  after- 
wards became  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  had  joined 
the  Portuguese  troops,  and  restored  the  confidence  of 
the  Spaniards.  Our  enemies  assembled  their  forces 
to  march  upon  Madrid  which  they  hoped  to  surprise 
in  a  defenceless  state.  The  King  marched  out  of 
Madrid  with  his  reserve  troops  to  meet  them,  and  to 
join  the  corps  commanded  by  Marshals  Soult,  Ney, 
and  Mortier.  There  were  alternating  successes  and 
reverses.  A  disagreement  which  arose  amongst  the 
marshals  was  calculated  to  help  the  plans  of  the  Eng- 
lish general,  their  adversary.  King  Joseph,  distin- 
guished by  other  qualities,  was  not  accustomed  to  war, 
and  so  precarious  was  the  authority  which  he  exer- 
cised over  the  leaders  of  the  French  army,  that  he  was 
unable  to  remedy  the  unfortunate  effects  of  their  dis- 
agreement. This  campaign,  which  might  have  had 
decisive  consequences,  resulted  nevertheless  in  check- 
ing the  movements  of  the  enemy,  and  in  throwing  the 
Anglo-Portuguese  army  back  into  Portugal.  Marshal 
Jourdan  returned  to  France,  and  Marshal  Soult,  in 
whom  the  Emperor  had  greater  confidence,  replaced 
him  as  Major-General  to  the  King.  The  King  had 
returned  to  Madrid,  where  his  spirit  of  conciliation 
seemed  to  rally  partisans  around  him,  even  amongst 
the  Spaniards,  whose  opposition  until  then  had  been 
most  marked. 

Military  operations  were  being  carried  out  with  suc- 
cess on  the  east  of  the  Peninsula.  Various  successes 
secured  in  Aragon,  and  the  taking  of  Girone,  a  fort- 
ress in  Catalonia,  which  was  defended  by  the  Spaniards 
with  as  much  obstinacy  as  Saragossa,  brought  this 
campaign  to  a  successful  close. 


NAPOLEON    I.  657 

After  the  fetes  occasioned  by  his  marriage,  Napo- 
leon, whose  attention  had  been  drawn  to  the  Belgian 
provinces,  determined  to  visit  them,  together  with  that 
part  of  Holland  which  had  recently  been  ceded  to 
France.  He  had  another  object,  besides  giving  the 
Empress  a  change,  and  showing  her  to  the  people  of 
Belgium,  and  his  new  provinces.  The  Emperor's 
principal  object  was  to  see  what  was  going  on  with 
his  own  eyes,  to  judge  of  the  effect  which  had  been 
produced  by  the  failure  of  the  English  expedition  of 
Walcheren,  to  see  to  what  an  extent  the  continental 
system  was  being  violated  there.  He  also  wanted  to 
find  out  what  it  was  possible  to  do  to  remedy  the 
damage  caused  to  Dutch  trade  by  the  interruption  of 
communications  with  England,  and  to  conciliate  as 
far  as  it  was  possible,  the  interests  of  the  Netherlands, 
with  the  rigour  of  his  prohibitive  laws. 

To  understand  the  reasons  which  decided  Napoleon 
to  undertake  this  journey  it  is  necessary  to  speak  of 
the  causes  which  brought  about  the  annexation  to  the 
Empire  of  tlie  districts  situated  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Escaut,  and,  in  the  end,  that  of  Holland.  The 
Emperor  had  seen  how  feebly  the  Dutch  had  co- 
operated in  the  defence  of  the  island  of  Walcheren, 
against  the  English  invasion  under  the  command  of 
Lord  Chatham.  He  also  saw  that  the  authorities  of 
this  country  did  not  check  the  circulation  of  English 
goods,  with  which  smugglers,  and  the  English  them- 
selves during  their  temporary  occupation  of  the  island 
of  Walcheren,  had  flooded  the  Kingdom,  not  except- 
ing the  capital  and  the  King's  Court.  It  has  been  seen 
that  the  King  of  Holland  sympathized  but  little  with 
the  Emperor  in  the  direction  which  the  latter  wished 
to  give  to  the  government  of  his  states.  The  decree, 
i.ssued  in  Berlin  on  November  21st,  1806.  which  put 
England  in  a  state  of  blockade,  added  to  their  dis- 


658  MEMOIRS    OF 

agreement.  Such  a  measure  seemed  revolutionary  to 
Kine  Louis,  and  calculated  to  ruin  Dutch  trade.  He 
would  not  admit  that  this  decree  was  a  necessary  and 
inevitable  reprisal  on  the  edicts  of  the  King  of  Eng- 
land's council.  His  entire  attention  was  devoted 
towards  attenuating  the  injury  which  the  blockade 
system  caused  to  Holland,  and  to  evade  carrying  it 
into  effect  as  much  as  he  could,  without  appearing  to 
violate  it  openly.  To  the  complaints  made  to  him 
about  the  facilities  granted  to  English  trade  in  the 
ports  of  Holland,  he  answered  by  saying  that  he  could 
not  prevent  skin  from  perspiring.  The  effect  of  this 
opposition  was  that  the  Emperor  was  seriously  dis- 
pleased. 

When  Napoleon  saw  himself  forced  by  the  decrees 
of  the  British  council  to  take  recourse  to  the  system 
of  a  continental  blockade,  it  was  evident  that  Holland 
could   only  preserve  her  independence   by    faithfully 
carrying  out  this  system,  or  by  a  maritime  peace.  The 
King's  answer  to  the  pressing  requests  of  the  Em- 
peror that  he  should  close  his  ports  to  English  trade, 
was  that  this  system  of  continental  blockade  would 
cause  the  ruin  of  Holland,  and  that  it  would  be  better 
for  her  to  unite  to  and  incorporate  herself  with  France, 
which  would  at  least  give  her  free  communications 
with  forty  millions  of  men.     The  King  was  asked  to 
draw  the  attention  of  England  to  this  state  of  things 
himself,  and  to  ask  her  to  conclude  peace  so  as  to 
retain  the  advantages  which  she  derived  from  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Dutch  Kingdom.     With  this  in  view 
France's  conditions  were  communicated  to  the  Eng- 
lish Cabinet.     These  conditions  were  moderate  ones. 
With  Napoleon's  consent  M.  Labouchere,  sent  by  the 
King  of  Holland,  left  for  London  in  February,  1810. 
Fouche,  who  was  ever  on  the  look-out  for  the  means 
of  rendering  himself  indispensable,  heard  of  the  appli- 


NAPOLEON    I.  659 

cation  which  was  being  made  to  the  London  Cabinet, 
and — of  his  own  accord,  and  without  any  other  au- 
thority but  his  own — began  a  second  negotiation  with 
Lord  Wellesley  without  the  knowledge  of  either  King 
Louis  or  Napoleon.  He  charged  ]\L  Ouvrard  with  this 
mission,  but  did  not  satisfy  himself  with  one  inter- 
mediary alone,  and  gave  orders  to  another  agent  whom 
he  had  in  London,  to  enter  into  communications  with 
the  English  minister.  So  many  overtures  aroused  the 
suspicions  of  a  minister  who  was  but  little  disposed 
for  peace,  and  he  made  haste  to  put  an  end  to  the  ne- 
gotiations by  giving  a  negative  answer  to  M.  La- 
bouchere. 

The  Emperor  then  saw  that  in  consideration  of  the 
safety  of  our  frontiers,  and  the  strict  carrying  out  of 
the  continental  system,  he  could  no  longer  postpone 
the  military  occupation  of  the  Dutch  frontier.  Com- 
munications between  this  country  and  England  had 
not  been  interrupted,  and  British  trade  continued  to 
find  markets  in  the  Dutch  ports.  Negotiations  were 
entered  into  without  further  delay,  and  during  the 
time  when  King  Louis  was  at  Paris,  where  he  had 
been  called  at  the  same  time  as  the  other  sovereigns 
allied  to  France.  This  prince,  who  was  one  of  the 
most  honourable  men  in  his  kingdom,  but  who  had 
been  embittered  by  vexations,  domestic  troubles,  and 
infirmities — placed  between  the  duty  which  he  owed 
to  his  brother,  and  the  rigidity  of  his  principles — 
could  not  make  up  his  mind  to  do  violence  to  his  feel- 
ings in  these  decisive  circumstances.  Neither  prayers, 
nor  advice,  nor  remonstrances,  nor  the  promise  to 
indemnify  the  Dutch  for  the  sacrifice  exacted  from 
them,  after  peace  should  have  been  restored,  could 
vanquish  the  King's  scruples,  or  induce  him  to  give 
orders  for  the  total  exclusion  of  English  trade.  King 
Louis  considered  his  duty,  his  honour,  and  even  his 


66o  MEMOIRS    OF 

religion  interested  in  not  allowing  any  sacrifice,  from 
which  Holland  might  suffer,  to  be  imposed  upon  him ; 
or  to  admit  any  composition,  or  pay  any  attention  to 
the  advantages  which  an  unreserved  co-operation  in 
Napoleon's  plans  promised  him.  Some  very  sharp 
explanations  took  place  between  the  Emperor  and  his 
brother,  and  it  was  then  that  the  former  first  threat- 
ened to  occupy  Holland  by  force.  The  King  wrote  to 
Holland  to  order  that  the  French  troops  should  be 
resisted  by  all  means,  even  by  an  inundation  of  the 
country.  He  forbade  that  any  obedience  should  be 
paid  to  his  orders  if  these  orders  were  contrary  to 
those  mentioned,  and  commanded  them  to  hold  out 
until  his  return. 

These  orders  soon  became  known.  The  King,  chal- 
lenged to  yield,  and  having  reflected  on  the  respon- 
sibility which  he  was  thus  assuming  in  the  ruin  of  his 
country  resigned  himself  at  last  to  sign  a  treaty  which 
was  forced  upon  him.  This  treaty,  which  is  dated 
March  i6th,  1810,  stipulated  the  cession  to  the  Em- 
pire of  the  Dutch  provinces  situated  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Escaut,  and  the  interdiction  of  all  trade  with 
England,  until  such  time  as  the  English  Cabinet  should 
have  revoked  its  decrees  in  council.  During  these  dis- 
cussions, which  had  been  so  violent  that  an  unpleasant 
issue  could  be  expected.  Marshal  Oudinot  had  received 
orders  to  occupy  the  fortresses  of  Berg-op-Zoom  and 
Breda. 

Amongst  other  documents  relative  to  the  struggle 
carried  on  by  the  King  of  Holland  against  the  Em- 
peror in  Paris,  we  will  quote  the  following  letter,  in 
spite  of  its  length,  because  it  is  remarkable  for  the 
greatness  of  national  sentiment  which  predominates 
in  it,  and  because  it  epitomises  Napoleon's  grievances 
at  the  attitude  adopted  by  his  brother : — 


NAPOLEON    I.  66i 

"  Sir  my  Brother. — I  have  received  Your  Majes- 
ty's letter.  You  desire  me  to  make  known  to  you  what 
are  my  intentions  with  regard  to  Holland.  I  will  do 
so  frankly.  When  Your  ]\Iajesty  ascended  the  throne 
of  Holland,  part  of  the  Dutch  nation  desired  its  annex- 
ation to  France.  The  esteem  with  which  the  history 
of  this  brave  nation  had  inspired  me  prompted  me  to 
desire  that  it  should  keep  its  name  and  its  independ- 
ence. I  wrote  its  constitution  myself,  and  this  was  to 
be  the  basis  of  the  throne  of  Your  Majesty,  and  I 
placed  you  on  it.  I  hoped  that,  having  been  educated 
with  me,  you  w'ould  have  had  for  France  that  attach- 
ment which  the  nation  has  the  right  to  expect  from  its 
children,  and  all  the  more  from  its  Princes.  I  hoped 
that  brought  up  in  my  politics  you  would  have  felt 
that  Holland,  which  had  been  conquered  by  my  peo- 
ple, owed  her  independence  only  to  the  generosity  of 
France;  that  Holland,  being  weak  without  alliances, 
without  an  army,  could  and  must  be  conquered  on  the 
day  on  which  she  should  put  herself  into  direct  opposi- 
tion with  France;  that,  she  had  no  right  to  separate 
her  policy  from  mine;  and  that,  finally,  Holland  was 
bound  to  me  by  treaties.  I  hoped  accordingly  that  in 
placing  on  the  throne  of  Holland  a  Prince  of  my  blood, 
I  had  found  the  mean  term  which  would  conciliate  the 
interests  of  the  two  states  and  unite  them  in  a  common 
interest  and  in  a  common  hatred  of  England,  and  I 
was  quite  proud  of  having  given  to  Holland  what  she 
needed,  as  by  my  act  of  mediation  I  had  found  what 
was  needed  by  Switzerland.  But  I  have  not  been  long 
in  finding  out  that  I  had  been  entertaining  a  vain  il- 
lusion ;  my  hopes  have  been  deceived.  Your  Majesty, 
in  ascending  the  throne  of  Holland,  forgot  that  you 
are  French,  and  even  strained  all  the  springs  of  your 
reasoning,  and  twisted  the  delicacy  of  your  conscience, 
to   persuade   yourself   that   you   arc    Dutcli.      Those 


662  MEMOIRS    OF 

Dutchmen  who  are  friendly  disposed  towards  France 
have  been  neglected  and  persecuted;  those  who  have 
served  England  have  been  put  forward.  The  French, 
from  the  officer  to  the  soldier,  have  been  turned  out, 
treated  with  disrespect,  and  I  have  had  the  pain  of 
seeing  the  French  name  exposed  to  shame  in  Holland, 
under  a  Prince  of  my  own  blood.  However,  the  re- 
spect for,  and  honour  of  the  French  name  cannot  with 
impunity  be  attacked,  either  by  Holland  or  by  any- 
body whosoever.  This  honour,  and  this  respect,  lie 
next  to  my  heart,  and  I  have  known  how  to  bear  it 
aloft  on  the  bayonets  of  my  soldiers. 

"  How  badly  Your  Majesty  is  disposed  is  shown 
in  your  speeches.  In  these  one  meets  with  nothing  but 
disagreeable  allusions  to  France.  Instead  of  giving 
the  example  of  forgetting  the  past,  they  consequently 
recall  it,  and  by  those  means  flatter  the  secret  feelings 
and  the  passions  of  the  enemies  of  France,  and,  after 
all,  about  what  do  the  Dutch  complain?  Were  they 
not  conquered  by  my  arms?  Do  they  not  owe  their 
independence  to  the  generosity  of  my  people  ?  Should 
they  not  rather  bless  the  generosity  of  France  which 
has  constantly  left  open  her  canals,  and  her  custom- 
houses to  their  commerce,  which  has  made  no  other 
use  of  her  conquests  than  to  perfect  them,  and  who 
until  the  present  has  employed  her  power  only  for  the 
consolidation  of  their  independence.  Who,  then,  can 
have  justified  Your  Majesty's  conduct,  which  is  an 
insult  to  the  nation,  and  an  offence  to  me.  You  must 
understand  that  I  do  not  separate  myself  from  my 
predecessors,  and  that  from  Clovis  down  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Public  Safety  I  hold  myself  responsible  for 
all ;  and  whatever  of  evil  is  said  light-heartedly  against 
the  Governments  which  have  preceded  me,  I  hold  to 
be  said  with  the  intention  of  offending  me.  I  know  it 
has  become  the   fashion  amongst   certain   people   to 


NAPOLEON    I.  663 

praise  me.  and  to  cry  France  down,  but  those  who  do 
not  love  France  do  not  love  me ;  and  those  who  speak- 
ill  of  my  people.  I  hold  them  for  my  bitterest  enemies. 
Had  I  only  this  one  cause  for  discontent,  namely,  of 
seeing  into  what  contempt  the  French  name  has  fallen 
in  Holland,  the  rights  of  my  crown  would  have  au- 
thorized me  to  declare  war  on  a  neighbouring  sov- 
ereign in  whose  states  people  allowed  themselves  to 
insult  my  nation.     I  did  nothing  of  the  kind. 

"  But  Your  Majesty  has  been  deceived  as  to  my 
character.  You  have  formed  a  false  estimate  of  my 
goodness,  and  my  feelings  towards  you.  You  have 
violated  every  treaty  which  you  have  made  with  me; 
you  have  disarmed  your  fleets ;  you  have  discharged 
your  sailors ;  you  have  disorganized  your  armies ;  so 
that  Holland  finds  herself  without  either  army  or  a 
fleet,  as  though  storehouses  filled  with  goods,  and  regi- 
ments of  tradesmen  and  clerks  could  consolidate  a 
power.  Such  things  make  a  rich  association ;  but  there 
can  be  no  King  without  finances,  without  assured 
means  of  recruiting,  and  without  a  fleet. 

"  Your  Majesty  has  done  more  than  this.  You  took 
advantage  of  the  moment  when  I  had  troubles  on  the 
continent  to  allow  the  relations  between  Holland  and 
England  to  be  renewed,  to  violate  the  laws  of  the 
blockade  which  is  the  only  means  of  efficaciously  in- 
juring this  power.  I  gave  you  a  proof  of  my  dis- 
approval of  this  conduct  in  forbidding  you  France, 
and  I  made  you  feel  that,  without  the  assistance  of 
my  arms,  by  closing  the  Rhine,  the  Weser,  the  Escaut, 
and  the  Meuse  to  Holland,  I  put  your  country  in  a 
more  critical  condition  than  if  I  had  declared  war  upon 
you.  that  I  isolated  it  in  a  way  whicli  meant  its  an- 
nihilation. 

"  This  blow  re-echoed  in  Hollanfl.  ^'our  Majesty 
implored  my  generosity  and  appealed  to  my  fraternal 


664  MEMOIRS    OF 

feelings,  promising  me  a  change  of  conduct.  And  I 
thought  that  this  warning  would  suffice.  I  raised  the 
customs  prohibition,  when  you  very  soon  returned  to 
your  first  system.  It  is  true  that  at  the  time  I  was  in 
Vienna  burdened  with  a  heavy  war,  Your  Majesty 
received  every  American  ship  which  presented  itself 
in  the  ports  of  Holland,  though  they  were  driven  out 
of  the  ports  of  France.  I  was  forced  to  close  my 
custom-houses  to  Dutch  trade  for  a  second  time. 
Surely  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  have  made  a 
more  authentic  declaration  of  war.  In  this  state  of 
things  we  could  consider  ourselves  as  really  at  war. 
In  my  speech  to  the  legislative  body  I  hinted  at  my 
displeasure,  and  I  will  not  hide  from  you  that  it  is  my 
intention  to  annex  Holland  to  France,  both  to  add  to 
my  territory,  to  strike  the  most  terrible  blow  in  my 
power  against  England,  and  to  deliver  myself  from 
the  continual  insults  which  the  ringleaders  of  your 
Cabinet  never  cease  to  direct  against  me.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  the  mouth  of  the  Rhine  and  the  Meuse  must 
belong  to  me.  The  principle  in  France  that  the  valley 
of  the  Rhine  is  our  frontier  is  a  fundamental  princi- 
ple. Your  Majesty  writes  to  me  in  your  letter  of  the 
17th  that  you  are  sure  of  being  able  to  prevent  all 
trade  between  Holland  and  England;  that  you  have 
finances,  fleets,  and  armies;  that  you  will  re-establish 
the  principles  of  the  constitution  by  giving  no  privi- 
leges to  the  nobility;  by  abolishing  the  rank  of  mar- 
shal— a  rank  which  is  only  a  caricature,  and  quite  in- 
compatible with  a  power  of  the  second  order;  that  you 
will  have  the  storehouses  of  colonial  goods,  and  what- 
ever may  have  been  brought  on  American  boats,  and 
ought  not  to  have  entered  your  ports,  seized  upon. 
My  opinion  is  that  you  are  undertaking  what  you  will 
not  be  able  to  carry  out,  and  that  the  annexation  of 
Holland  to  France  is  only  being  postponed.     I  will 


NAPOLEON    I.  665 

admit  that  I  have  no  more  interest  in  annexing  to 
France  the  countries  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhino, 
than  I  have  of  annexing  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Berg 
and  the  Hanseatic  cities.  I  can  accordingly  leave  the 
right  bank  of  the  Rhine  to  Holland,  and  1  will  coun- 
termand the  prohibition  which  I  had  ordered  at  my 
custom-houses,  at  all  such  times  as  the  existing  treaties, 
which  will  be  renewed,  shall  be  carried  out.  These 
are  my  demands  : — 

( I.)   Prohibition  of  all  trade  and  all  communication 

with  England. 
(2.)   A  fleet  of  fifteen  line  vessels,  seven  frigates, 

and    seven    brigs    or    corvettes,    armed    and 

equipped. 
(3.)   A  land  army  of  twenty-five  thousand  men. 
(4.)    Suppression  of  the  rank  of  Marshal. 
(5.)   Abolition  of  all  the  privileges  of  the  nobility, 

which  are  contrary  to  the  constitution  which 

I  gave,  and  which  I  guaranteed. 

"  Your  Majesty  can  negotiate  through  your  Am- 
bassador on  this  basis,  with  the  Duke  de  Cadore,  but 
you  must  rest  assured  that  on  the  admission  of  the  first 
packet,  the  first  vessel  into  Holland,  I  shall  re-estab- 
lish prohibition  at  my  custom-houses;  that  at  the  first 
insult  which  shall  be  made  to  my  flag  I  will  have  the 
oflficer  who  allows  himself  to  insult  my  flag  seized  by 
force  and  hanged  at  the  main-mast.  Your  Majesty 
will  find  a  brijther  in  me,  if  I  find  a  Frenchman  in  you. 
If  you  forget  the  feelings  which  attach  you  to  our 
common  country  you  will  not  think  it  wrong  that  I 
should  forget  the  ties  which  nature  has  placed  between 
us. 

"To  sum  up:  the  annexation  of  Holland  to  France 
is  what  would  be  m«jst  useful  to  France,  to  Holland, 
and  to  the  continent,  because  it  is  what  would  be  most 


666  MEMOIRS    OF 

harmful  to  England.  This  annexation  could  be  car- 
ried out  by  consent  or  by  force.  I  have  sufficient 
grievance  against  Holland  to  declare  war;  at  the  same 
time  I  am  quite  ready  to  agree  to  an  arrangement 
which  would  yield  to  me  the  Rhine  as  a  frontier,  and 
by  which  Holland  would  engage  to  fulfil  the  conditions 
stipulated  above. 

"  Your  affectionate  Brother, 

"  Napoleon. 

"Given  at  Trianon,  Sept.  21,  1809." 

The  Emperor  and  the  Empress  left  Compiegne  at 
the  end  of  April  and  stopped  at  St.  Quentin,  where 
Napoleon  occupied  himself  with  his  usual  activity  with 
details  of  government  and  the  needs  and  resources 
of  industry.  His  questions,  which  were  always  re- 
markable for  their  precision  and  exactness,  showed 
how  much  he  had  these  interests  at  heart.  Their  Ma- 
jesties visited  the  canal,  and  crossed  the  first  part, 
which  was  not  yet  finished,  in  their  carriage.  The 
sovereigns  then  rowed  through  the  canal  in  the  part 
into  which  the  water  had  already  been  let  in,  for  a 
distance  of  about  a  league  and  a  half.  Five  days  were 
spent  at  Antwerp,  which  were  employed  by  the  Em- 
peror, who  was  on  horseback  from  daybreak,  in  visit- 
ing the  harbour  works,  the  arsenal  in  all  its  details, 
and  the  fortifications ;  finally  in  reviewing  the  soldiers 
and  inspecting  the  fieet.  A  ship  of  several  decks,  the 
largest  of  which  had  been  constructed  in  this  har- 
bour, was  launched.  The  authorities  were  presented 
to  the  Emperor  and  Empress.  Napoleon  conversed  at 
length  with  them  all,  examining  what  reforms  were 
possible.  The  Empress  showed  herself  affable,  simple, 
and  unpretentious  towards  everybody.  The  remem- 
brance of  Josephine's  graces,  and  her  ardent  desire  to 
please,  perhaps  injured  Marie  Louise,     Her  reserve 


NAPOLEOX    I.  667 

might  have  been  attributed  to  the  German  dynastic 
pride,  but  this  was  not  the  case,  and  nobody  could  have 
been  more  simple,  or  less  haughty.  It  was  her  natural 
timidity  and  the  novelty  of  the  role  which  she  was 
called  upon  to  play,  which  alone  gave  her  an  appear- 
ance of  stiffness.  She  had  so  completely  identified 
herself  with  her  new  position,  and  showed  herself  so 
touched  by  the  kindness  which  the  Emperor  showed 
her.  that  when  he  proposed  that  she  should  wait  for 
him  at  Antwerp,  during  tlie  tour  which  he  intended  to 
make  in  the  Zeeland  Islands,  she  implored  him  to  take 
her  with  him.  and  not  to  fear  the  fatigue  of  the  jour- 
ney on  her  account.  Napoleon  accordingly  left  with 
her.  and  went  to  visit  one  after  the  other,  Bois-le-Duc, 
Berg-op-Zoom,  Breda,  Middleburg,  Flushing,  and  the 
Island  of  Walcheren,  which  had  been  evacuated  four 
months  before  by  the  English,  after  an  expedition 
which  had  apparently  been  prepared  for  the  sake  of 
effecting  a  diversion  which  might  be  useful  to  Aus- 
tria, but  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  was  undertaken  to 
destroy  the  beautiful  maritime  and  military  establish- 
ments of  Antwerp,  which  so  aroused  the  ire  of  Eng- 
land. Xapoleon  returned  to  this  city  by  North  and 
South  Beveland,  ascending  the  Escaut.  He  inspected 
the  fortifications  of  these  various  strongholds  in  de- 
tail. So  rapid  and  sure  was  his  glance,  that  merely 
by  riding  round  the  enceinte  of  a  fort,  often  at  a  gal- 
lop, he  noticed  the  weak  points,  and  on  his  return 
could  dictate  notes  which  showed  that  he  had  not  neg- 
lected the  least  important  detail. 

After  this  journey  the  Emperor  went  and  spent 
three  days  at  the  castle  of  Laeken.  lie  left  it  on  May 
17,  passing  through  the  towns  of  Ghent,  Bruges.  Os- 
tcnd.  Dunkirk,  Lille,  Calais,  Boulogne,  Dieppe  and 
Havre  rapidly,  ending  his  course  at  Kouen,  where  he 
spent  two  days.     It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  he 


668  MEMOIRS    OF 

left  behind  him  traces  of  his  passage  by  acts  of  benev- 
olence at  all  these  cities.  The  Empress  was  delighted 
with  the  really  triumphant  reception  which  she  had 
received,  during  the  whole  of  the  journey.  She  was 
received  everywhere  under  triumphal  arches,  and  en- 
joyed all  demonstrations  which  could  flatter  her — 
popular  enthusiasm,  illuminations,  balls,  and  fetes 
were  everywhere  lavished  upon  her.  She  had  been 
able  to  appreciate  the  French  character,  and  to  form 
an  opinion  that  she  would  easily  accustom  herself  to 
a  country  where  the  attachment  in  which  Napoleon 
was  held,  the  prodigious  influence  which  he  exercised 
there,  the  affection  which  he  had  for  her,  the  affection 
which  the  population  showed  her  on  account  of  the 
Emperor,  made  the  new  sovereign  foresee  such  happy 
days.  Napoleon,  on  his  side,  congratulated  himself 
in  having  found  in  Marie  Louise  a  companion  to 
whom  the  very  idea  of  intrigue  was  repugnant,  who 
was  discreet,  and  who  thought  but  how  to  please  him. 
The  Grand-Duke  of  Wiirzburg,  the  brother  of  the 
Emperor  of  Austria,  the  Queen  of  Naples,  the  King 
and  Queen  of  Westphalia,  Prince  Eugene,  and  the 
two  Austrian  ministers,  Metternich  and  Schwarzen- 
berg,  accompanied  the  Imperial  couple  on  this  jour- 
ney. 

Their  Majesties  returned  to  St.  Cloud  on  June  ist. 
This  month  was  consecrated  to  splendid  fetes  which 
the  city  of  Paris,  the  Imperial  Guard,  and  other  cor- 
porations gave  to  the  sovereigns.  The  people  took 
part  in  the  public  rejoicings,  and  in  the  interval  the 
Emperor  went  with  the  Empress  to  visit  several  pub- 
lic establishments,  amongst  others  the  National  Li- 
brary, and  the  Zoological  Gardens,  and  showed  him- 
self with  her  at  the  principal  theatres.  On  July  ist. 
Prince  Schwarzenberg  offered  a  fete  to  Their  Majes- 
ties at  the  Austrian  Embassy.    This  fete  became  sadly 


NAPOLEON    I.  669 

notorious  by  the  catastrophe  which  brought  it  to  a 
close.  A  fire  broke  out  in  the  principal  ball-room. 
The  Imperial  family,  which  was  the  object  of  the 
Ambassador's  first  care,  was  soon  placed  in  safety. 
Napoleon  put  the  Empress  in  the  carriage  and  en- 
tered it  himself  to  re-assure  her.  but  on  arrivingf  at  the 
Champs-Elysees,  left  her  to  continue  to  St.  Cloud,  and 
returned  to  the  embassy  mansion  to  contribute  by 
his  presence  in  rescuing  some  victims  from  the  flames. 
The  particulars  of  this  catastrophe  are  well  known, 
and  were  a  sad  diversion  from  the  rejoicings  which 
till  then  had  been  troubled  by  no  accident.  The  re- 
membrance of  the  calamity  which  saddened  the  mar- 
riage fetes  of  Louis  XVL  with  Marie  Antoinette  was 
present  in  all  minds,  and  the  sad  presentiments  aroused 
anxiety,  the  passing  impression  of  \vhich  was  soon 
effaced  by  the  prestige  of  Napoleon's  fortune.  The 
Emperor's  first  care  on  the  morrow^  was  to  send  to 
ask  for  news  of  the  persons  who  had  suffered  by  this 
terrible  accident. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  Empress  Josephine,  after  hav- 
ing passed  the  month  of  April  at  Navarre,  had  re- 
turned to  La  Malmaison,  given  up  to  profound  melan- 
choly. It  w-as  with  difficulty  that  she  could  accustom 
herself  to  her  new  state.  After  her  divorce  she  re- 
tained the  title  and  rank  of  Empress-Queen,  and  the 
enjoyment  of  a  revenue  of  three  million  francs ;  and 
held  a  court  at  La  Malmaison  where  the  same  eti- 
quette was  observed  as  at  the  Tuileries.  The  Em- 
peror desired  that  she  should  continue  to  receive  the 
persons  of  the  court,  the  grand  dignitaries,  the  Min- 
isters and  the  principal  authorities — to  frequent  La 
Malmaison  was  to  please  him. 

To  divert  Josephine  from  this  melancholy  Napoleon 
advised  her  to  go  to  the  waters  at  the  end  of  July; 
so  she  left  for  Aix,  in  Savoy.     y\ftcr  the  .season  of 


670  MEMOIRS    OF 

the  waters  she  was  anxious  to  visit  Switzerland,  which 
she  did  not  know,  but  on  arriving  at  Geneva,  official 
advice  from  Paris  caused  her  to  fear  that  the  Em- 
peror was  seeking  to  remove  her  from  France.  She 
commissioned  her  daughter,  Queen  Hortense,  to  speak 
about  the  matter  with  him  in  a  confidential  manner. 
The  Emperor,  who  had  not  had  the  least  idea  of  this, 
and  had  only  wished  to  give  Josephine  a  change, 
hastened  to  write  to  reassure  her.  He  advised  her  to 
go  and  see  the  Viceroy  at  Milan,  but  gave  her  the 
choice  between  this  journey  and  her  return  to  Navarre, 
as  he  wished  her  to  do  what  would  best  suit  her.  Jo- 
sephine, under  the  impression  of  the  fear  with  which 
she  had  been  inspired,  gave  up  her  journey  to  Switzer- 
land, and  made  haste  to  return  to  Navarre,  where  she 
spent  the  rest  of  1810,  and  the  larger  part  of  181 1. 
It  was  only  in  18 12  that  she  v/ent  to  Milan  to  be  pres- 
ent at  the  confinement  of  her  daughter-in-law. 

In  the  course  of  the  month  of  July  of  this  same 
year — 18 10 — Lucien  wrote  to  the  Emperor  to  express 
his  desire  to  retire  to  America.  Since  the  Mantua 
interview,  of  which  we  have  spoken,  all  attempts  to 
bring  about  a  reconciliation  between  the  two  brothers 
had  failed.  Napoleon,  after  having  made  a  last  and 
useless  appeal  to  Lucien,  consented  to  his  expatriation. 
Lucien,  however,  did  not  succeed  in  reaching  the 
United  States,  for  an  English  frigate  arrested  him  in 
the  waters  of  Cagliari,  and  conducted  him  as  a  pris- 
oner to  England,  where  he  remained  until  1814,  be- 
guiling his  captivity  by  the  cultivation  of  letters,  and 
by  putting  the  finishing  strokes  to  his  poems,  "  Char- 
lemagne "  and  '"  La  Cirneide." 

Canova,  who  had  come  to  Paris  in  the  month  of 
November,  1802,  to  make  the  First  Consul's  bust,  re- 
turned to  our  capital  in  October,  18 10,  summoned 
there  by  the  Emperor,  who  wished  to  entrust  him  with 


NAPOLEON    I.  671 

the  execution  of  a  statue  of  the  Empress  Marie  Lou- 
ise. Canova  represented  this  Princess  in  the  character 
of  Concord,  and  this  statue  is  to-day  at  Parma.  Dur- 
ing the  course  of  the  sittings  which  the  Empress  ac- 
corded to  the  celebrated  sculptor,  he  spoke  to  the 
Emperor  of  the  state  of  distress  of  the  St.  Luke  Acad- 
emy in  Rome,  which  had  neither  revenues  nor  schools, 
and  the  necessity  of  applying  some  money  to  indis- 
pensable repairs  connected  with  the  Florence  Cathe- 
dral, as  well  as  for  the  conservation  and  maintenance 
of  the  numerous  monuments  and  artistic  objects  with 
which  this  city  and  its  churches  are  filled.  Canova, 
whose  acquaintance  I  had  made  at  the  time  of  his 
journey  in  1802,  wrote  to  me  in  the  first  days  of 
November,  18 10,  to  beg  me  to  remind  the  Emperor 
of  the  good  intentions  in  which  he  had  left  him,  and 
of  the  promises  which  he  had  received  from  him.  Be- 
ing about  to  return  to  Italy,  the  great  artist  desired 
strongly  to  hear  the  news  of  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promises.  On  November  7th  I  was  in  a  position  to 
answer  him  that  the  Emperor  had  ordered  ( i )  that 
the  part  of  the  German  college  called  La  Fabrica  Vcc- 
chia  should  be  accorded  to  the  St.  Luke  Academy  as  a 
place  of  meeting  for  its  schools;  (2)  that  an  income 
of  one  hundred  thousand  francs  should  be  assigned 
in  fee  simple  to  this  Academy,  of  which  sum  twenty- 
five  thousand  francs  should  be  applied  to  the  Acad- 
emy, and  seventy-five  thousand  francs  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  ancient  monuments;  (3)  that  a  sum  of  three 
hundred  thousand  francs  should  be  placed  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  President  of  the  Academy  of  l''K)rence : 
to  wit,  two  hundred  thousand  francs  for  digging  up 
antiquities,  and  one  hundred  thousand  francs  for  en- 
couragements to  be  given  to  artists;  (4)  that  funds 
.should  also  be  granted  for  necessary  repairs.  Canova 
thanked  me  with  effusion  for  the  good  news  which  1 


(i']2  MEMOIRS    OF 

had  communicated  to  him,  and  left  Paris  highly  de- 
lighted at  being  the  bearer  thereof. 

The  arrival  of  Lady  Bathurst  at  Morlaix  in  the 
month  of  September  1810,  called  attention  once  more 
to  an  extraordinary  occurrence  which  still  remains 
enveloped  in  mystery.  The  various  recitals  which 
have  been  made  of  this  event  all  agree  in  the  matter 
of  detail.  I  will  briefly  relate  this  extraordinary  ad- 
venture, which  is  really  worth  being  recorded. 

After  the  Peace  of  Vienna,  in  1809,  Mr.  Benjamin 
Bathurst,  who,  though  a  very  young  man,  was  Eng- 
lish Ambassador  to  Vienna,  suddenly  disappeared  on 
the  frontier  of  Mecklenburg,  at  the  very  moment  when 
he  was  about  to  embark  for  England  at  a  port  on  the 
Baltic.  He  was  travelling  under  a  fictitious  name  with 
a  courier  of  the  English  Cabinet.  Mr.  Bathurst  had 
set  down  at  the  stage-house  at  Perleberg,  which  is 
situated  outside  the  town.  When  he  left  it  he  walked 
towards  his  carriage  in  which  the  courier  was  already 
seated,  but  whilst  putting  his  hand  on  the  handle  of 
the  carriage  door  the  English  diplomat  seemed  sud- 
denly to  remember  something,  turned  round,  and 
walked  behind  the  wall  of  the  house.  As  he  did  not 
return  they  went  to  look  for  him,  but  could  not  find 
him,  and  not  the  slightest  trace  of  him  could  be  found. 
He  never  appeared  again  from  that  hour,  and  was 
never  again  seen;  until  a  fortnight  after  his  disap- 
pearance there  was  found  near  the  stage-house,  where 
he  had  dined,  on  the  wayside,  his  trousers,  in  the 
pocket  of  which  was  the  commencement  of  a  letter 
to  his  wife.  Although  it  had  been  raining  hard  for  a 
fortnight  neither  paper  nor  writing  had  been  in  the 
least  affected.  It  could  never  be  found  out  who  had 
brought  the  trousers  to  where  they  were  found. 

Mr.  Bathurst,  during  his  journey,  had  been  a  prey 
to  extreme  agitation.    He  expressed  his  fear  of  fall- 


NAPOLEON    I.  673 

ing  into  the  hands  of  enemies.  He  had  walked  on 
foot  to  the  house  of  the  Governor  of  the  town,  and 
had  expressed  great  anxiety  on  this  point ;  then  on 
his  return  to  the  stage-house  he  had  burnt  his  papers. 
All  these  matters  gave  rise  to  the  suspicion  that  he 
was  mentally  atTected.  The  English  embassies  and 
the  Bathurst  family  caused  all  kinds  of  researches  and 
inquiries  to  be  made,  but  without  any  result.  Even 
to-day  complete  ignorance  exists  as  to  what  became 
of  this  unhappy  man. 

It  was  in  order  to  make  in  person  such  inquiries 
as  might  lead  her  to  trace  her  husband  that  Lady 
Bathurst  came  to  the  continent  with  her  brother.  The 
Emperor  in  a  letter  dated  June  26,  1810,  ordered  the 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  the  police  to  furnish 
her  with  passports,  and  to  receive  her  with  favour. 
He  allowed  her  to  remain  in  France  as  long  as  might 
seem  fit  to  her.  She  returned  to  England  by  way  of 
Germany  without  having  discovered  anything  con- 
cerning Mr.  Bathurst's  disappearance.  It  would  be 
superfluous  to  allude  to  the  thousand  conjectures  to 
which  this  event  gave  rise.  I  will,  however,  say  that 
no  suspicion  whatever  attached  itself  to  the  French 
Government  in  this  matter;  and  that  Lord  Bathurst, 
Colonial  Minister,  the  man  who  persecuted  Napoleon 
most  bitterly  at  St.  Helena,  was  a  near  relation  of 
Mr.  Benjamin  Bathurst.  The  implacable  hatred  with 
which  he  persecuted  the  great  victim  of  English  per- 
fidy, and  the  abominable  outrages  with  which  he 
treated  him,  were  the  way  in  which  he  requited  the 
man  who  was  most  kind  towards  his  own  kinswoman 
in  18 10.  This  was  not  the  only  occasion,  moreover, 
on  which  Napoleon  gave  marks  of  favour  to  English 
subjects  in  spite  of  the  bitter  war  which  the  English 
Government  was  waging  upon  him.  A  certain  Mr. 
Palmer,  in  whom  Mr.  Canning  took  an  interest,  was 


674  MEMOIRS  OF 

sent  back  to  England  at  the  Minister's  request,  and 
the  Emperor  informed  Mr.  Canning  at  the  same  time 
that  he  was  delighted  to  have  had  the  opportunity  of 
making  himself  agreeable  to  him.  To  finish  with  the 
Bathurst  family,  I  will  add  that  another  bereavement 
was  in  store  for  Mrs.  Benjamin  Bathurst.  Her 
daughter,  who  was  endowed  with  all  the  gifts  of  youth 
and  beauty,  perished  in  the  Tiber  at  Rome,  in  1828. 

Some  months  after  Napoleon's  marriage,  M.  de 
Talleyrand,  tormented  by  a  thirst  for  intrigue  and 
power,  thought  a  favourable  time  had  come  to  regain 
favour,  and  in  consequence  made  up  his  mind  to  write 
to  the  Emperor  to  offer  his  services.  Napoleon  re- 
plied to  this  letter  on  the  29th  of  August  with  a  for- 
mal refusal,  written  in  such  terms  that  Talleyrand 
gave  up  all  hope.  In  a  very  few  words  the  Emperor 
stated  that  his  letter  had  given  him  pain,  that  he 
begged  him  to  abstain  from  writing  to  him  again  on 
the  subject,  as  his  letters  would  recall  to  him  painful 
memories  which  he  desired  to  forget. 

After  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  of  the  treaty 
of  March  i6th,  and  having  been  present  at  the  mar- 
riage festivities,  King  Louis  left  Paris,  where  he  had 
been  detained  till  then,  on  April  8th,  1810,  to  return 
to  Holland.  The  Queen  left  for  Amsterdam  with  the 
Crown  Prince  at  the  same  time,  but  went  another  way. 
Napoleon  and  his  brother  had  had  a  final  interview, 
which,  in  appearance  at  least,  was  a  friendly  one. 
The  Emperor  was  holding  in  his  hand  a  knife,  very 
elaborately  worked,  representing  his  statue,  and  fitted 
with  blades  and  accessories  which  made  it  a  master- 
piece of  the'cutler's  art.  He  handed  it  to  King  Louis, 
who  hesitated  about  taking  it,  saying  that  that  cut 
friendship.  "  Bah,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  that  only 
cuts  bread !  " 

The  good  understanding  which  appeared  to  be  re- 


XAPOtEON    I.  675 

established  between  the  two  brothers  was  not  to  be 
of  long  duration.  The  execution  of  the  treaty  of 
March  i6th,  brought  with  it  fresh  difficulties.  The 
exigencies  of  the  continental  system,  the  reciprocal 
broils  which  envenomed  its  application,  and  finally  an 
insult  paid  to  the  French  ambassador's  livery  at  the 
gates  of  the  palace,  ended  in  a  rupture.  One  morning 
whilst  at  Rambouillet,  the  Emperor  heard  the  news 
of  his  brother's  abdication  and  flight,  no  previous 
warning,  no  understanding  between  them  being  there 
to  cover  or  to  attenuate  the  bad  effect  which  such  an 
escapade  must  necessarily  cause  in  Europe.  After 
reading  these  despatches,  the  perusal  of  which  was 
interrupted  by  frequent  exclamations  of  surprise  and 
indignation.  Napoleon  rose  and  throwing  the  papers 
on  my  table,  deplored  what  he  styled  his  brother's  in- 
gratitude, in  the  strongest  terms.  Grief  and  vexation 
drew  tears  to  his  eyes : — 

"  Could  I  expect,"  he  cried,  "  such  an  outrage  from 
a  man  to  whom  I  acted  as  a  father?  I  brought  him  up 
with  the  feeble  resources  of  my  pay  as  artillery  lieu- 
tenant. I  shared  my  bread  and  the  mattress  of  my  bed 
with  him.  Where  does  he  go  to?  To  strangers,  so 
as  to  make  people  believe  that  he  is  no  longer  in  safety 
in  France,  or  in  the  States  which  are  subjected  to  my 
influence." 

During  King  Louis's  stay  in  Paris,  in  the  first 
months  of  the  year,  the  Emperor  had  threatened  to 
pursue  into  Amsterdam  itself  all  persons  favouring 
English  trade.  The  King  had  rei)lied  to  this  threat 
by  giving  secret  orders  that  his  capital  should  be  de- 
fended, even  by  means  of  inundation.  The  Emperor, 
becoming  more  and  more  indignant  at  the  ever-in- 
creasing resistance  which  his  continental  sy.stem,  the 
onlv  means  in  his  eyes  for  forcing  the  English  to 
peace,  met  with,  had  jjushed  his  custom-house  line  up 
I— M.-inoirs  Vol.  7 


676  MEMOIRS    OF 

to  the  very  gates  of  Amsterdam,  and  had  even  ordered 
that  this  city,  the  seat  of  the  English  trade,  should  be 
occupied.  King  Louis,  in  his  extremity,  had  with- 
drawn to  Haarlem  with  his  young  eldest  son,  who  had 
been  brought  to  him  by  the  Queen  in  the  preceding 
month  of  April,  determined  to  submerge  Amsterdam 
rather  than  to  allow  it  to  be  occupied  by  the  French 
troops.  He  notified  this  determination  to  the  Minis- 
ters, but  the  council  unanimously  expressed  itself  op- 
posed to  such  extreme  measures.  The  King  having 
next  proposed  the  alternative  of  defending  or  of  abdi- 
cating, the  Ministers  advised  the  latter  step.  In  con- 
sequence King  Louis  addressed  a  royal  message  to  the 
Legislature  announcing  his  renunciation  of  the  throne 
of  Holland  in  favour  of  his  son,  and  sent  with  this 
message  a  formal  deed  of  abdication.  He  left  Haar- 
lem on  the  same  day  to  proceed  to  the  waters  of  Toep- 
litz  in  Bohemia,  accompanied  by  two  officers  of  his 
household,  from  whom  he  separated  on  arriving  on 
the  foreign  soil.  He  went  by  the  name  of  Comte  de 
Saint-Leu,  which  was  the  name  of  an  estate  which  he 
possessed  some  leagues  from  Paris.  The  Emperor 
sent  to  his  brother,  at  Toeplitz,  M.  Decazes,  who  had 
been  secretary  of  the  cabinet,  and  who  combined  the 
posts  of  secretary  to  the  commands  of  the  Lady 
Mother  and  of  councillor  to  the  imperial  court  of 
Paris.  M.  Decazes  was  charged  to  invite  King  Louis 
to  leave  Austrian  territory,  and  to  come  and  inhabit  a 
country  governed  by  a  member  of  the  imperial  family. 
At  the  same  time  Napoleon  wrote  to  M.  Otto,  his  am- 
bassador to  Vienna,  who  sent  off  a  secretary  of  his 
legation  to  the  King,  with  the  purpose  of  inducing 
him  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  Emperor's  wishes. 
Neither  pressing  requests  nor  advice  could  triumph 
over  Louis's  determination,  nor  make  him  abandon 
his  resolution  not  to  live  under  the  influence  of  a  gov- 


NAPOLEON    I.  ^-jy 

ernment  subjected  to  his  brother's  power.  He  even 
considered  his  vokmtary  exile  from  France  as  a  pro- 
testation against  the  annexation  of  Holland  to  the 
Empire.  Napoleon  having  exhausted  all  means  of 
persuasion,  and  being  touched  by  the  bad  state  of  his 
brother's  health,  did  not  insist  any  further,  and  ended 
by  yielding  to  his  scruples,  scruples  which  were  respect- 
worthy  no  doubt,  inasmuch  as  they  sprang  from  an  up- 
right and  sincere  mind,  but  which  under  the  circum- 
stances were  eminently  regrettable.  Louis  accordingly 
was  free  to  choose  his  own  place  of  retirement,  and 
decided  upon  the  town  of  Gratz  in  Styria,  situated  in 
the  most  southern  part  of  Austria.  Having  heard  of 
the  senatus  consultum  which  assigned  a  jointure  to 
Queen  Hortense  and  her  children,  he  forbade  his  wife 
to  accept  anything,  bidding  her  content  herself  with 
the  private  property  which  still  belonged  to  both  of 
them,  an  injunction  which  Queen  Hortense  saw  her- 
self forced  to  disobey. 

The  situation  of  Holland  was  such  at  that  time  that 
its  best  means  of  safety  lay  in  its  annexation  to  the 
Empire.  In  the  new  state  of  things  in  Europe  it  was 
impossible  to  leave  this  little  State  to  itself.  Its  in- 
corporation into  a  great  and  powerful  Empire  at  least 
allowed  the  Dutch  to  participate  in  the  advantages  of 
more  direct  protection,  thanks  to  which  it  was  possible 
for  the  commercial  prosperity  of  this  people  to  be  once 
more  called  into  life.  Sensible  people  accordingly, 
and  there  are  perhaps  more  sensible  people  in  Holland 
than  anywhere  else,  desired  the  annexation  of  their 
country  to  the  Empire,  and  this  annexation  was  pro- 
nounced. The  Emperor  ordered  the  young  Crown 
Prince,  who  had  been  left  in  Haarlem  by  his  father, 
in  care  of  Madame  de  Boubers,  his  governess,  and  in 
charge  of  General  Brunc,  the  Grand  Equerry,  to  be 
brought  to  France.     Napoleon  sent  Archlreasurer  Le 


678  NAPOLEON  I. 

Brun  to  Amsterdam  in  the  capacity  of  Governor-gen- 
eral. There  was  a  resemblance  between  the  character 
and  manners  of  Prince  Le  Brun  and  the  tastes  and 
habits  of  the  Dutch,  and  they  agreed  very  well  indeed 
in  consequence. 

Napoleon  received  his  nephew,  young  Prince  Napo- 
leon, who  was  brought  to  St.  Cloud,  and  who  at  the 
time  was  six  years  old,  in  an  affectionate  manner. 
He  told  this  child  that  he  would  be  his  father,  and 
that  when  he  became  a  man  he  would  pay  his  father's 
debt  and  his  own.  He  never  missed  an  opportunity 
of  impressing  on  those  whom  he  had  created  kings 
what  he  expected  from  them  in  the  high  rank  in  which 
he  had  placed  them.  "  Never  forget,"  he  said  to  his 
nephew,  "  that  in  whatever  position  my  policy  and  the 
interests  of  my  Empire  may  place  you,  your  first 
duties  are  towards  me,  your  second  duty  is  towards 
France,  and  all  other  duties,  even  those  towards  the 
peoples  whom  I  may  entrust  to  you,  only  come  after 
these." 


CHAPTER   X 

BERXADOTTE'S  election  as  Crown  Prince  of 
Sweden  was  so  important  an  event  that  it 
seems  to  me  necessary  to  speak  of  it  with  the 
most  circumstantial  details.  After  the  deposition  of 
Gustavus  IV.,  the  Duke  of  Sudermanie,  this  king's 
uncle,  was  called  to  the  throne.  As  the  Duke  had  no 
cliildren,  the  Diet,  on  his  proposal,  elected  Prince 
Christian  of  Schleswig  Augustenburg,  Crown  Prince 
of  Sweden,  and  he  became  the  idol  of  the  Swedish 
nation.  Unfortunately  he  died  suddenly  of  a  stroke 
of  apoplexy  in  the  month  of  January,  1810,  whilst 
engaged  in  reviewing  a  regiment.  The  people,  em- 
bittered by  this  death,  which  they  refused  to  believe 
was  a  natural  death,  broke  out  into  a  violent  revolt, 
in  which  Count  Fersen,  Marshal  of  the  Court,  lost  his 
life.  "J'he  death  of  the  Duke  of  Augustenburg  was  a 
misfortune  profoundly  to  be  regretted.  If  this  prince 
had  lived,  a  good  understanding  would  have  been 
maintained  between  France  and  Sweden.  He  had 
asked  the  Emperor  for  one  of  the  princesses  of  his 
family  to  wife. 

The  Swedes,  feeling  that  they  needed  a  soldier, 
cast  their  eyes  on  a  French  general,  and  thought  that 
such  a  choice  would  be  agreeable  to  Xapoleon,  whose 
friendly  disposition  they  were  anxious  to  cultivate. 

I  am  taking  part  of  my  story,  the  exactness  of 
which  I  can  guarantee  because  its  various  phases  hap- 
pened under  my  very  eyes,  from  Ceneral  Philip  Sc- 
gur's  work  on  "  The  Russian  Campaign  in  1812,  Criti- 
cally E.xamined." 

679 


68o  MEMOIRS    OF 

In  1807,  at  the  time  of  the  evacuation  of  Pomerania 
by  the  Swedes,  two  brothers  of  the  name  of  Moerner, 
officers  in  the  regiment  of  the  same  name,  were 
brought  to  Marshal  Bernadotte  who  gave  them  his 
house  as  their  prison,  and  about  a  month  later  sent 
them  back  to  Sweden,  In  June  18 10,  one  of  these 
officers,  who  had  become  colonel,  sent  in  his  name  to 
Bernadotte,  at  his  house  in  the  Rue  d'Anjou,  in  Paris, 
and  spoke  to  him  of  the  desire  of  the  Swedes  to  put  him 
in  the  place  of  their  deceased  Crown  Prince.  Berna- 
dotte listened  to  this  offer  with  amusement,  and  with- 
out attaching  any  real  importance  to  it  at  first,  deter- 
mining not  to  speak  of  the  matter  to  the  Emperor 
until  the  proposal  should  have  been  made  in  an  offi- 
cial form.  Some  days  later  an  extraordinary  envoy 
of  Sweden,  Baron  Wrede,  came  to  see  the  Marshal, 
and,  confirming  what  Colonel  Moerner  had  said  to 
him,  asked  for  a  reply.  That  was  on  a  Saturday. 
Next  day  Bernadotte  went  to  St.  Cloud  before  mass 
and  communicated  this  news  to  the  Emperor,  who 
said  to  him :  "  I  know  all  about  it,  and  I  leave  you 
free  to  accept  or  refuse.  I  will  act  in  this  matter  as 
you  choose.  I  had  charged  Alquier  to  propose  a  re- 
gency, and  to  await  events.  The  son  of  the  last  King 
might  have  been  recalled  later  on,  but  in  Sweden  they 
do  not  want  to  have  anything  more  to  do  with  this 
family.  I  would  rather  see  you  there  than  anybody 
else.  I  will  support  you  with  my  consent;  take  what 
steps  are  necessary." 

Bernadotte  sent  a  young  man  who  was  a  relation 
of  Signeul's,  the  Swedish  consul  in  Paris,  to  Stock-, 
holm  to  arrange  with  his  partisans,  authorizing  him 
to  promise  all  the  money  that  was  necessary.  I  will 
add  that  Bernadotte's  agents  acted  skilfully,  using 
the  name  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  to  bring  over 
those  who  were  hesitating  to  their  side.     About  two 


NAPOLEON    I.  68 1 

million  francs,  advanced  by  Napoleon  or  lent  by  Gen- 
eral, afterwards  Marshal  Gerard,  was  all  the  money 
which  the  future  King  of  Sweden  could  dispose  of  to 
pay  into  the  bank.  Bernadotte's  election  depended 
entirely  on  Napoleon's  goodwill,  and,  before  appoint- 
ing him.  the  Swedes  to(rk  care  to  assure  themselves  of 
the  Emperor's  consent. 

If  the  choice  of  this  marshal  of  the  Empire  had  dis- 
pleased  the   French   sovereign   he   would   only  have 
needed  to  express   it   to  prevent  his  election.     The 
Swedes  had  only  cast  their  eyes  on  Bernadotte  because 
he  was  related  to  Napoleon  by  marriage,  Madame  Ber- 
nadotte being  King  Joseph's  sister-in-law,  and  wishing 
in  this  way  to  conciliate  the  Emperor's  goodwill.   Napo- 
leon, however,  was  prompted  to  desire  that  the  throne 
of  Sweden  should  be  occupied  by  a  man  more  loyal  to 
France,  and  this,  through  an  instinctive  distrust  of  the 
marshal's  feelings,  a  mistrust  which  events  only  too 
fully  justified.     Under  the  influence  of  this  prejudice 
Napoleon   commissioned   General   Duroc   to   go   one 
morning   to    the    Elysec    where    Prince    Eugene   was 
living,  during  the  marriage  festivities,  and  to  propose 
to  him  the  future  crown  of  Sweden.     Prince  Eugene 
asked  for  one  day  in  which  to  consider  the  proposal. 
Duroc  having  come  to  fetch  an  answer  on  the  mor- 
row, Eugene  replied  that  after  having  carefully  con- 
sidered  the  matter  with  the  vice-queen,  and  having 
meditated  on  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  this 
new  establishment,  they  had  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  they  must  content  themselves  with  their  present 
situation  in  Italy.     He  added  that  moreover  the  obli- 
gation to  abjure  the  Catholic  faith  was  exceedingly 
distasteful  to  his  wife,  the  Princess.     Napoleon  told 
Prince  Eugene  the  same  day  that  he  had  perhaps  done 
right  to  refuse,  although  he  would  have  been  much 
pleased  if  he  could  have  accepted  the  proposal. 


682  MEMOIRS  OF 

When  one  considers  the  lofty  fortune  to  which  Ber- 
nadotte  was  raised,  one  is  prompted  by  the  desire  to 
cast  a  retrospective  glance  on  the  career  which  was 
followed  by  this  factious  soldier,  who  from  a  common 
soldier's  dormitory  passes  through  revolutionary  clubs 
to  reach  a  foreign  throne,  to  which  the  protection  of 
a  great  man  raises  him  at  one  stroke  without  transi- 
tion, without  any  apprenticeship  to  government,  and 
in  the  capacity  of  uie  gratuitous  heir  of  an  ancient 
royal  race.  Having  entered  the  Royal  army  as  a  sim- 
ple soldier  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  follows  his  regi- 
ment to  Corsica,  the  cradle  of  the  future  Emperor 
whose  arm  he  uses  to  raise  himself.  He  works  with 
his  hands  on  the  St.  Florent  road,  and  is  employed  in 
keeping  the  lists  in  the  office  of  the  Registrar  of  the 
superior  Council  of  Corsica.  He  takes  ten  years  to 
become  a  sergeant.  The  Revolution  finds  him  in  this 
rank  which  would  have  been,  without  it,  the  highest 
rank  of  his  military  career.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolutionary  period,  when  all  discipline  and  subor- 
dination was  upset,  Bernadotte  finds  himself  in  his 
element.  He  is  to  be  seen  in  the  barracks  of  Mar- 
seilles, perched  on  a  bench,  powdered,  gaitered,  and 
in  elegant  military  costume  haranguing  his  comrades, 
and  using  his  Gascony  eloquence  to  persuade  them  to 
turn  out  their  former  officers  and  to  take  their  place. 
His  activity  and  his  smartness  raise  him  rapidly  to  the 
post  of  general  of  division  in  1794.  After  various 
alternations  of  success  and  failure  he  passes  over  tO' 
the  army  of  Italy  under  the  command  of  General 
Bonaparte.  Here  he  displays  zeal  and  adroitness.  At 
the  time  of  the  i8th  Fructidor,  the  events  on  which 
day  were  partly  brought  about  because  some  Royalist 
letters  seized  by  Bernadotte  on  the  person  of  Count 
d'Antraigue,  agent  of  the  French  Princes,  had  been 
sent  to  the  Directoire,  the   future  King  of  Sweden 


NAPOLEON  I.  683 

gets  himself  sent  to  Paris  bearing-  petitions  from  the 
army  which  demand  the  punishment  of  the  traitors. 
His  revohitionary  exaUation  is  noticed  and  he  refuses 
to  take  part  in  the  army  to  England,  which  had  been 
sent  to  Egypt,  hoping  to  succeed  to  the  command  of 
the  army  in  Italy, 

Appointed  ambassador  to  Vienna  he  hoists  the  flag 
of  the  Republic  over  the  door  of  his  Embassy  in  a 
critical  moment  of  popular  effervescence:  an  untimely 
and  unseasonable  demonstration  which  was  calculated 
to  provoke  some  outrage  likely  to  compromise  the 
re-establishment  of  peace  with  Austria.  This  impru- 
dent act  obliges  the  Directoire  to  retain  the  army  for 
Egypt  in  France  until  fresh  orders,  in  the  fear  that 
war  might  break  out  again  on  the  Continent.  Berna- 
dotte,  disavowed  by  the  Directoire,  returns  to  Paris 
and  attaches  himself  to  Joseph  Bonaparte,  whose  sis- 
ter-in-law he  marries — a  marriage  which  was  to  be 
the  foundation  of  his  fortune.  Appointed  to  the  Min- 
istry of  War  by  his  brother-in-law's  influence  he  is 
later  on  removed  by  Sieyes,  who  finds  him  too  ardent. 
Having  returned  to  private  life  he  shows  himself  hos- 
tile to  the  revolution  of  Brumaire  i8th,  but  has  not 
the  courage  to  oppose  it  openly.  He  then  accepts  the 
advantages  of  this  revolution,  having  been  convinced 
by  the  success  of  the  event,  and  represses  the  jealous 
instinct  which  urges  him  to  paralyse  the  arm,  which, 
however,  he  will  make  use  of  to  raise  himself  to  the 
highest  summit  of  honours.  At  the  time  of  the  publi- 
cation of  tlie  Concordat  of  1802,  Bernadotte  unites 
himself  to  other  generals  to  renew  his  opposition. 
Sent  back  to  the  army  in  the  west,  which  he  iiad  left 
to  go  to  Paris  on  this  occasion,  he  continues  the  same 
intrigues  and  the  same  plotting.  Surj)rised  whilst 
conspiring  against  the  I'irst  Consul,  his  brother-in- 
law,  Joseph,  intercedes   for  him,  and  Bernadotte  es- 


684  MEMOIRS    OF 

capes  punishment.  But  clemency  irritates  ungrateful 
hearts,  and  he  finds  the  weight  of  gratitude  heavy  to 
bear.  The  demagogue  allows  himself  to  be  appointed 
marshal  of  the  empire  and  Prince  of  Ponte-Corvo. 
Vested  with  the  command  of  an  army  corps  during  the 
Jena  campaign,  Bernadotte  refuses  to  assist  Marshal 
Davout  at  Auerstadt,  thus  compromising  for  the  sake 
of  a  detestable  feeling  of  rivalry  the  safety  of  the  en- 
tire army.  He  only  escapes  a  court-martial  sentence 
for  this  conduct  out  of  consideration  for  his  alliance 
with  the  Emperor's  brother,  who  protects  him  for  a 
second  time.  After  the  battle  of  Wagram  the  Prince 
of  Ponte-Corvo  addresses  a  lying  order  of  the  day  to 
the  Saxons,  who  formed  part  of  his  army  corps,  an 
order  which  was  calculated  to  diminish  the  credit  due 
to  the  French  troops,  and  which  was  contrary  to  the 
rules  of  military  discipline.  This  jealous  boasting 
forces  the  Emperor  to  remove  him  from  his  command, 
and  to  send  him  back  to  Paris,  covering  his  disgrace 
however  with  indulgent  pretexts  about  the  Marshal's 
health. 

In  spite  of  the  numerous  reasons  for  displeasure 
which  Napoleon  had  against  Bernadotte,  he  called  him 
to  a  high  fortune  and  literally  loaded  him  with  gifts 
and  honours. 

The  sovereign  of  Sweden  comes  to  be  dethroned. 
His  successor,  who  had  no  children,  adopts  a  prince 
of  the  Danish  reigning  family.  The  prince  dies  as 
though  for  the  very  purpose  of  leaving  Bernadotte 
free  access  to  the  throne  of  Sweden.  Then  some 
Swedish  officers,  grateful  for  the  treatment  they  had 
received  at  his  hands  when  they  were  his  prisoners, 
and  tempted  as  much  by  the  hope  of  the  Emperor's 
protection  as  by  the  Marshal's  military  reputation, 
proposes  his  election  as  hereditary  prince.  In  spite  of 
this  reputation,  Bernadotte  was  never  a  great  soldier. 


NAPOLEON    I.  68; 

There  were  generals  in  the  French  army,  having  held 
chief  conimands,  who  were  worth  as  much  as  he  was, 
and  some  were  even  superior  to  him.  But  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Swedes,  Bernadotte  was  related  to  Napoleon, 
and  Napoleon  had  always  cast  the  veil  of  indulgence 
over  his  faults.  The  Prince  de  Ponte-Corvo  did  not 
hesitate  to  abjure  his  religion  in  order  to  become  king, 
and  declared  that  Stockholm  was  well  worth  a  Pro- 
testant sermon. 

Napoleon's  indulgence  towards  such  persons  as 
Bernadotte,  Talleyrand,  and  Fouche  cannot  be  ex- 
plained in  a  way  likely  to  satisfy  what  it  is  conven- 
tional to  call  public  opinion.  Napoleon's  clemency 
encouraged  such  characters  to  do  fresh  wrongs,  whicli 
the  Emperor  forgot,  only  remembering  the  services 
which  they  had  rendered  him.  Even  after  blind  For- 
tune had  firmly  established  Bernadotte  on  a  throne  to 
which  a  total  absence  of  merit  gave  him  so  little  claim 
— after  he  had  gathered  in  the  fruits  of  his  past 
treacheries  and  his  recent  perfidy,  when  the  satisfac- 
tion of  his  ambitious  desires  should  have  rendered  him 
well-disposed  and  inclined  to  look  into  his  heart — he 
could  not  refrain  from  spreading  abroad  bitter  and 
dishonouring  statements  about  Napoleon,  the  first 
author  of  his  fortune. 

The  terrible  disaster  which  terminated  the  reign  of 
that  august  and  most  unhappy  man,  the  Emperor,  the 
remembrance  of  Napoleon's  kindness,  and  an  indul- 
gence the  effects  of  which  Bernadotte  had  so  often 
felt,  did  not  suffice  to  touch  a  heart  ungrateful  by 
nature,  and  rendered  implacable  by  jealousy  and  am- 
bition. 

The  following  details  will  furnish  fresh  traits  of 
Bernadotte's  character.  His  avarice  and  the  cunning 
of  the  means  which  he  empoyed  to  avoid  paying  his 
debts,  or  to  get  the  best  of  his  foreign  creditors,  won 


686  MEMOIRS    OF 

him  the  name  of  the  "  Crowned  Harpag-on,"  and  en- 
abled him  at  his  death  to  leave  behind  him  a  treasure 
exceeding  thirty  millions  of  francs. 

The  allied  powers,  whilst  refusing  to  acknowledge 
the  foreign  endowments  bestowed  by  the  Emperor 
Napoleon,  nevertheless  allotted  to  the  holders  of  these 
endowments  the  arrears  which  had  not  been  paid  up 
to  the  day  on  which  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace  was 
signed.  Bernadotte  alone  refused  to  carry  this  meas- 
ure into  execution,  and  refused  to  pay  over  the  arrears 
due  to  the  titularies.  All  the  efforts  of  the  French  am- 
bassador to  Stockholm  to  enforce  the  claims  of  those 
entitled  to  these  arrears,  and  to  establish  a  principle 
which  was  not  contested  by  any  other  power,  remained 
without  effect.  This  caused  it  to  be  said  with  full  jus- 
tice that  "  these  recipients  were,  however,  his  fellow- 
countrymen,  men  who  had  shared  the  same  dangers 
and  the  same  rewards.  They  had  a  right  to  look  upon 
him,  Bernadotte,  as  their  supporter  and  their  pro- 
tector in  this  common  cause,  if  by  any  chance  their 
rights  happened  to  be  ignored." 

In  1 815  there  fell  to  Sweden  a  sum  of  twenty-five 
millions  of  francs,  which  was  the  price  of  the  retro- 
cession of  Guadeloupe  to  France,  a  colony  which  the 
English  had  given  to  Sweden  during  the  war,  besides 
twelve  millions  as  an  indemnity  for  the  surrender  of 
Pomerania  to  Prussia.  Bernadotte  devised  the  scheme 
of  making  Parliament  hand  over  these  thirty-seven 
millions  of  francs  to  him,  this  sum  equalling,  on  a 
balance-sheet  which  he  laid  before  the  States,  and 
which  they  accepted,  the  total  of  the  debts  of  Sweden 
previous  to  1815,  and  undertook  to  pay  off  these  debts 
himself.  Having  secured  the  consent  of  the  States 
General  he  began  by  considering  himself  as  a  privi- 
leged creditor.  He  kept  back,  for  himself,  the  amount 
which  he  considered  due  to  him  in  compensation  for 


NAPOLEON    I.  687 

the  loss  of  the  principality  of  Ponte-Corvo.  and  of  his 
private  fortune,  spent  for  his  establishment  in  Swe- 
den— two  claims  which  he  consented  to  reduce  to  a 
total  of  twelve  millions  of  francs.  Bernadotte  next 
devoted  his  attention  to  profiting  by  the  remaining 
twenty-five  millions  by  means  of  \arious  transactions 
in  which  he  was  seen  to  display  all  the  subtleness  of  a 
procurator  combined  with  the  power  which  he  exer- 
cised as  king.  It  would  take  too  long  a  time  to  relate 
in  all  their  details  the  tricks,  worthy  of  Moliere's 
master,  which  P>emadotte  employed  to  reduce  the  total 
of  the  debts  wliich  the  States  liad  charged  him  to  pay 
off  in  the  lump.  We  will,  however,  mention  some 
examples. 

Denmark  had  a  claim,  for  supplies  furnished  to 
the  Swedish  army,  to  a  sum  which  had  already  been 
fixed  after  discussion  at  eighty  thousand  Hamburg 
crowns.  The  Danish  creditors  were  so  discouraged 
by  the  delays  and  postponements  to  which  they  were 
subjected,  that,  wearied  out,  they  resigned  themselves 
to  the  receipt  of  only  thirt)'^-seven  thousand  six  hun- 
dred crowns.  An  American  debt  which  was  due  from 
the  sale  of  cargoes  of  cotton  seized  at  Stralsund.  in 
18 1 2.  by  the  French,  but  afterwards  sold  by  Sweden, 
which  was  to  hand  over  the  price  realized  to  the  Amer- 
ican merchants,  was  reduced,  after  ten  years'  hag- 
gling, by  two  fifths.  The  debts  contracted  with  the 
formal  sanction  of  the  States  towards  the  family  of 
Gustavus  IV.,  by  way  of  indemnity  for  the  private 
property  which  it  possessed  in  Sweden,  were  in  their 
turn  reduced  by  twenty-five  per  cent.  A  Genoese  debt 
of  twelve  millions,  after  chicaneries  of  all  kinds, 
prompted  mainly  by  the  intention  of  realizing  profits 
on  the  coin-currencies  and  the  exchange,  was  finally 
discharged — although  it  had  been  declared  absolutely 
lawful — with  a  draft  on  London  for  ninety-nine  thou- 


688  MEMOIRS    OF 

sand  pounds  sterling^.  The  King  of  Sweden  furthez^ 
deducted  a  sum  of  four  thousand  crowns  from  this 
sum,  pretending  that  the  philanthropy  of  the  Genoese 
would  not  refuse  this  subsidy  to  one  of  the  philan- 
thropic establishments  of  Stockholm.  And  lastly 
Bernadotte,  desiring  to  liquidate  the  Saxon  loan,  of- 
fered the  bondholders  seventy  per  cent,  of  their  claims. 
The  majority  resigned  themselves  and  accepted  this 
offer.  As  to  the  others,  all  kinds  of  manoeuvres  were 
brought  into  play  against  them  to  force  them  to  agree. 
All  the  preceding  details  have  been  taken  from  offi- 
cial documents. 

When,  after  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Alexander, 
Bernadotte's  powerful  protector,  Prince  Gustavus 
Wasa  entered  the  service  of  Russia,  this  event  caused 
the  royal  intruder  to  fear  that  the  interest  taken  by 
the  Russian  Government  in  the  son  of  the  exiled  mon- 
arch might  develop  in  a  perilous  manner.  A  doubt 
as  to  the  stability  of  his  dynasty  arose  in  the  mind  of 
the  former  Marshal  of  the  Empire,  and  he  expressed 
himself  in  the  following  very  characteristic  manner: 
"My  son  will  very  probably  have  a  kingdom.  He  is 
sure  to  have  thirty  millions." 

I  have  to  speak  of  Fouche's  disgrace,  which  is  im- 
portant on  account  of  its  cause.  The  double  negotia- 
tion opened  by  this  minister  in  London,  without  the 
Emperor's  knowledge,  concurrently  with  the  overtures 
for  peace  which  the  King  of  Holland  was  making 
there  through  the  agency  of  M.  Labouchere,  was  the 
cause  of  this  disgrace.  Napoleon  had  closed  his  eyes 
to  the  agreement  which  had  been  made  between 
Fouche  and  the  Prince  de  Benevent  after  the  battle  of 
Essling  and  the  landing  of  the  English  expedition  in 
the  island  of  Walcheren.  Until  then  an  open  antipathy 
had  separated  these  two  ministers.  Their  intimacy 
manifesting  itself  under  such  circumstances  was  bound 


NAPOLEON    I.  689 

10  inspire  the  Emperor  with  well-founded  suspicions. 
The  audacity  of  Fouche  in  dealing  w'ith  a  hostile  gov- 
ernment without  Napoleon's  participation,  could  not 
remain  unpunished.  It  would  take  up  too  much  space 
to  enter  into  the  details  of  this  culpable  intrigue,  and 
these  are  besides  matters  of  public  knowledge. 
Ouvrard,  the  agent  in  this  underhand  negotiation, 
had,  it  is  true,  written  to  the  Emperor  to  ask  his  au- 
thorization to  act  in  the  matter,  but  Napoleon,  know- 
ing this  person's  presumption,  looked  upon  his  desire 
to  interfere  in  diplomatic  affairs  as  a  ridiculous  one, 
and — never  dreaming  that  he  would  dare  to  give 
effect  to  these  plans  without  his  consent — did  not 
condescend  to  answer  his  letter. 

The  regrets  expressed  by  the  Faubourg  St.  Ger- 
main at  the  news  of  the  dismissal  of  Minister  Fouche, 
the  former  bloody  terrorist,  are  worthy  of  notice.  He 
had  known  how  to  persuade  this  last  stronghold  of 
the  opposition  that  it  was  he  who  was  its  protector 
with  Napoleon,  and  that  if  any  member  of  this  oppo- 
sition fell  into  disgrace  it  was  because  it  had  been  out 
of  his  power  to  prevent  it,  but  that  he  might  be  relied 
upon  to  destroy,  or  at  least  to  attenuate,  the  effects  of 
this  severity.  It  might  have  been  said  that  Fouche 
held  Napoleon  under  the  effects  of  a  charm,  for  with 
the  best  reasons  for  dismissing  him,  the  Emperor  still 
hesitated.  One  day,  at  St.  Cloud,  having,  according 
to  a  very  usual  custom  of  his,  come  and  seated  him- 
self on  a  corner  of  my  writing-table.  Napoleon  said  to 
me,  after  some  words  of  no  importance,  and  with  a 
brusque  change  of  subject:  "Meneval,  I  have  a  mind 
to  dismiss  Fouche."  This  remark  seemed  to  be  the 
expression  of  a  yet  undecided  state  of  mind,  Napo- 
lef)n  trying  to  come  to  some  dcfmite  determination. 
1  could  not  i)rcvcnt  myself  from  exclaiming:  "Sire, 
1  expected  this,  and  I  am  only  surprised  at  one  thing, 


/ 


690  MEMOIRS    OF 

and  that  is  that  you  haven't  sent  him  away  before." 
He  rose  slowly  without  answering  me,  took  one  or 
two  turns  in  the  study  with  his  hands  behind  his  back, 
and  then  occupied  himself  with  some  other  matter. 
This  hesitation  on  the  Emperor's  part  showed  to  what 
an  extent  Fouche  possessed  the  art  of  rendering  him- 
self necessary,  or  rather  what  difficulty  Napoleon  felt 
in  separating  himself  from  persons  to  whom  he  had 
been  long  accustomed,  even  when  his  confidence  in 
them  had  been  greatly  shaken. 

Fouche,  after  his  disgrace,  retired  to  his  chateau 
at  Pontcarre,  but  first  took  care  to  carry  off  with  him, 
or  to  destroy,  the  most  important  papers  at  his  minis- 
try. The  Emperor  not  wishing  to  leave  his  letters  in 
the  hands  of  a  man  whom  he  considered  capable  of 
making  a  bad  use  of  them,  sent  Prince  de  Neufchatel 
and  his  friend  the  councillor  of  state.  Real,  to  ask 
for  these  papers ;  but  Fouche  persisted  in  denying  that 
he  had  carried  off  any  papers.  Although  the  Emperor 
was  extremely  irritated  by  Fouche's  disguised  refusal, 
he  did  not  wish  to  take  steps  against  him.  Reflection 
having  inspired  the  ex-minister  with  the  fear  of  the 
consequences  of  the  Emperor's  resentment,  he  ended 
by  making  up  his  mind  to  hand  over  Napoleon's  let- 
ters. Napoleon  being  unwilling  to  leave  the  restless 
mind  of  this  dangerous  intriguer  without  food,  and 
especially  wishing  to  remove  him  from  France,  ap- 
pointed him  Governor-general  of  the  Illyrian  provin- 
ces. He  had  later  on  reason  to  repent  not  having  put 
it  out  of  the  power  of  this  unhallowed  individual  to 
do  harm. 

More  than  one  ambition  was  aroused  by  the  va- 
cancy at  the  Ministry  of  Police.  The  Emperor  had 
reserved  this  portfolio  in  petto  for  General  Savary, 
who  afterwards  became  Duke  de  Rovigo,  and  who  at 
that  time  was  one  of  his  aides-de-camp.    He  was  anx- 


NAPOLEON    I.  691 

ious  in  rewarding  the  services  of  this  general  officer 
to  employ  his  talents  and  his  devotion  to  his  person 
in  a  useful  manner.  Duke  de  Bassano  had  proposed 
Senator  Semonville,  which,  without  speaking  unjustly, 
was  a  mistake  on  his  part.  Napoleon  had  not  replied 
negatively.  Accordingly,  when  one  day  he  told  M. 
de  Bassano  that  he  would  declare  his  choice  on  the 
morrow,  the  Duke  thought  the  chances  in  favour  of 
his  protege  and  advised  him  in  a  confidential  manner 
to  go  to  St.  Cloud.  M.  de  Semonville  arrived  pro- 
vided with  a  parcel  which  contained  his  senator's  coat 
and  sword,  and  the  hat  with  the  white  feathers,  and 
waited  with  anxiety  at  Madame  de  Bassaro's  house. 
On  leaving  mass,  the  Emperor  ordered  M.  de  Bassano 
and  General  Savary  to  be  brought  to  his  cabinet.  The 
latter,  who  had  no  idea  of  the  favour  in  store  for  him. 
was  just  preparing  to  return  to  Paris,  his  week's  ser- 
vice being  terminated.  The  general  was  on  a  call  to 
Madame  de  Bassano,  when  he  saw  an  outrider  from 
the  imperial  stables  ride  up,  leading  a  horse,  who  told 
him  that  the  Emperor  wished  to  see  him  at  once. 
Savary,  who  could  not  mount  on  horseback  in  shoes 
and  stockings,  asked  for  the  loan  of  a  pair  of  the 
Duke's  riding-boots.  Bassano  had  immense  calves,  so 
that  Savary  had  all  the  room  he  wanted  in  his  boots. 
Savary  put  his  shoes  in  his  pockets,  so  as  to  have 
them  in  readiness  to  put  on  again  before  entering  into 
the  Emperor's  presence,  jumped  on  the  horse  which 
had  been  brought  for  him,  and  rode  off  on  a  gallop 
to  the  palace.  The  Emperor,  who  was  tired  of  wait- 
ing, was  just  going  out  when  the  general  arrived. 
Great  was  the  hitter's  surprise,  and  no  less  the  sur- 
prise of  the  Duke  de  Bassano,  who  was  in  the  Em- 
peror's cabinet,  when  Napoleon  addressing  the  latter 
and  pointing  to  General  Savary  said:  "  Here  is  my 
Minister  of  Police."     It  was  a  coitf)  dc  theatre,  which 


692  MEMOIRS    OF 

was  repeated  at  Madame  de  Bassano's  house  in  front 
of  M.  de  Semonville,  when  the  Duke,  bringing  Savary 
back  told  them  both :  "  Here  is  the  Minister  of 
Pohce." 

In  the  meantime  General  Foy  arrived  in  Paris.  He 
had  been  sent  by  Marshal  Massena  to  explain  to  the 
Emperor  the  critical  position  in  which  the  French 
army  found  itself  before  Lisbon,  at  the  end  of  1810. 
Napoleon  wishing  to  reoccupy  Portugal,  which  Gen- 
eral Junot  had  been  forced  to  abandon  after  the  con- 
vention of  Cintra,  had  charged  Marshal  Massena  with 
this  important  operation.  Prince  d'Essling  had  pre- 
faced the  invasion  of  Portugal  with  the  taking  of  the 
'  towns  of  Ciudad-Rodrigo  and  Almeida.  After  the 
defeat  at  the  battle  of  Bussaco,  he  had  arrived  in  front 
of  the  lines  of  Torres- Vedras,  an  immense  entrench- 
ment covering  over  fifteen  leagues,  at  which  the  Eng- 
lish general  had  been  working  for  the  past  six  months, 
and  which  was  defended  by  an  Anglo-Portuguese 
army,  which  was  three  times  greater  than  ours.  Not 
being  able  to  attack  these  formidable  lines  face  to  face, 
the  Marshal  was  forced  to  blockade  it  whilst  waiting 
for  reinforcements.  He  then  decided  to  send  General 
Foy  to  the  Emperor  to  acquaint  him  with  the  state  of 
affairs,  to  ask  him  for  instructions,  and  especially  for 
funds.  General  Foy,  who  in  this  campaign  had  dis- 
played courage  and  talent,  was  only  known  to  Napo- 
leon by  the  opposition  which  he  had  always  mani- 
fested against  the  imperial  government.  A  friend  of 
General  Moreau  and  of  General  Lecourbe,  he  had 
shown  himself  very  partial  towards  the  former  at  the 
time  of  his  trial.  When  Napoleon  became  Emperor, 
General  Foy  refused  him  his  vote,  and  would  not  add 
his  name  to  the  congratulations  which  his  comrades 
addressed  to  the  new  Caesar.  Foy  was  colonel  of  ar- 
tillery at  the  time.     This  inflexibility  of  principle  had 


NAPOLEON    I.  693 

not  put  a  stop  to  his  career,  for  he  had  been  appointed 
general  of  brigade  on  his  arrival  in  Portugal.  General 
Foy's  antecedents  were  not,  however,  calculated  to 
dispose  the  Emperor  in  his  favour.  But  when  Napo- 
leon had  listened  to  him  he  showed  himself  extremely 
satisfied  with  the  clear  way  in  which  the  general  had 
answered  his  numerous  questions  as  to  the  position  of 
the  French  army,  its  operations,  and  its  resources. 
The  Emperor  was  much  pleased  with  this  officer. 
Hearing-  that  he  had  lost  his  carriages,  and  had  run 
great  dangers  on  his  journey,  Napoleon  ordered  a 
sum  of  twenty  thousand  francs  to  be  paid  to  him,  and 
appointed  him  at  the  same  time  general  of  division. 
He  had  conceived  so  high  an  opinion  of  General  Foy's 
character  and  talents  that  he  designed  him  in  petto 
for  the  dignity  of  marshal,  a  distinction  which  he  also 
reserved  for  General  Gerard  and  Generals  Clause! 
and  Lamarque. 

Up  till  1 814,  General  Foy  continued  to  show  the 
same  bravery  and  the  same  talents  in  war.  Having 
returned  at  that  time  to  private  life,  he  devoted  his 
leisure  to  study.  Elected  by  the  electors  of  his  de- 
partment to  represent  them  at  the  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties, this  eminent  general  became  one  of  the  most 
eloquent  of  orators.  He  figured  in  the  ranks  of  the 
opposition  and  showed  himself  the  most  indefatigable 
and  the  most  skilled  champion  of  the  guarantees  stipu- 
lated for  in  the  Charter,  the  most  resolute  adversary 
of  the  unpopular  laws  proposed  by  the  government  of 
the  Restoration.  He  •)ften  used  to  combine  with  his 
magnificent  speeches  in  patriotic  defence  of  public 
liberties,  attacks  against  the  fallen  government,  which 
were  not  always  ^air  or  just.  He  used  at  times  to  tell 
his  friends,  who  blamed  him  for  it,  that  he  did  this 
to  be  consistent.  General  Foy.  animated,  without  any 
|)ossible  doubt,  by  sincere  patriotism,  charged  Napo- 


694  MEMOIRS    OF 

leon  with  the  commonplace  crime  of  having  immo- 
lated liberty,  so  as  to  strike  a  simultaneous  and  in- 
direct blow  at  the  illiberal  methods  of  the  royal  gov- 
ernment, by  warning  it  of  the  danger  of  governing 
in  an  arbitrary  manner,  and  by  accusing  it  of  favouring 
in  this  way  the  underhand  growth  of  the  counter-rev- 
olution. Mistaking,  with  this  object  in  view,  the  spirit 
of  the  acts  of  the  preceding  government,  the  gen- 
eral did  not  take  sufficiently  into  consideration  the 
abnormal  and  extraordinary  circumstances  in  which 
the  holder  of  the  sovereign  power  had  found  himself 
placed. 

After  General  Foy's  death  there  was  published  a 
work  on  the  war  in  the  Peninsula,  which  this  soldier 
had  written  during  the  leisure  of  peace  and  of  his 
legislative  career.  The  injustice  and  the  mistakes 
which  disfigure  this  work,  which  otherwise  is  a  very 
remarkable  one,  are  to  be  attributed,  it  is  said,  as  much 
to  the  author,  as  to  the  publisher  of  this  book,  who 
in  various  places  has  exhibited  his  ignorance  of  mili- 
tary matters  in  the  story  of  the  conduct  of  this  war, 
and  a  superficial  acquaintance  with  the  events  which 
during  this  period  occurred  in  Spain  and  Portugal. 
General  Foy  had  not  had  the  time  to  finish  this  work, 
and  onlv  left  behind  him  unfinished  notes,  on  which 
the  "History  of  the  War  in  the  Peninsula  "  was  writ- 
ten. 

In  the  month  of  November  1810,  the  negotiations, 
opened  eight  months  previously,  with  the  English 
Government  for  an  exchange  of  prisoners  came  to  an 
end  without  any  result.  These  negotiations  were  be- 
ing pursued  on  behalf  of  France  by  M.  de  Moustier, 
who  had  been  employed  with  me  at  the  Congress  of 
Luneville,  and  on  behalf  of  England  by  Mr.  Macken- 
zie.     The   French    Government   had   previously   pro- 


NAPOLEON    I.  695 

posed  various  systems  of  exchange,  stimulated  by  the 
desire  to  rescue  thousands  of  French  prisoners  from 
hideous  captivity  on  the  English  pontoons.  The  sys- 
tem of  exchange  which  England  seemed  to  prefer  was 
the  exchange  of  all  the  prisoners,  both  native  and 
allied,  en  masse.  When  it  became  a  question  of  draw- 
ing up  the  clauses  referring  to  the  arrangement  which 
had  to  be  come  to  in  this  matter,  difficulties  arose. 
The  English  plenipotentiary,  adopting,  in  appearance, 
the  bases  agreed  upon,  wished  to  insert  ambiguous 
clauses,  the  result  of  which  would  have  been  that  the 
English  Government  would  first  of  all  have  with- 
drawn all  the  prisoners  of  English  nationality,  ex- 
changing them  for  an  equal  number  of  French  pris- 
oners. Now,  from  the  proportion  of  French  and 
English  prisoners,  twenty  thousand  prisoners  would 
have  remained  in  England  to  be  exchanged  for  Spanish 
prisoners.  The  liberation  of  these  Spanish  pris- 
oners was  subordinated  to  the  impractical  condi- 
tion of  having  to  open  and  follow  up  preliminary 
negotiations  with  the  Spanish  juntas,  which  were 
all  independent  of  each  other,  and  which  did  not 
compose  a  regular  government.  Our  wretched 
countrymen  would  accordingly  have  been  prisoners  for 
an  indefinite  time  on  the  English  pontoons,  for  Eng- 
land attached  little  importance  to  the  lives  of  the  allies 
who  fought  for  her  and  who  were  in  her  pay.  All 
the  efforts  of  the  French  Government  to  effect  the 
admission,  in  an  agreement,  of  equitable  and  recii)n)cal 
conditions  remained  without  result  from  the  British 
Ministry,  and  the  English  negotiator  broke  off  the 
conferences,  and  pressed  for  the  return  of  his  creden- 
tials. This  new  attempt  in  favour  of  the  unhai)py 
victims  of  war  failed  before  the  cold  and  selfish  policy 
of  England. 

The  events  which   I  have  described  in  a  summary 


696  MEMOIRS    OF 

manner  are  not  the  only  occurrences  which  marked 
the  year  1810,  which  was  more  fruitful  in  important 
events  than  any  other  year  of  the  Empire.  1810  wit- 
nessed also  the  surrender  of  Hanover  to  the  King  of 
Westphalia;  the  creation  of  the  Grand-duchy  of 
Frankfort,  the  succession  to  which  became  the  ap- 
panage of  the  viceroy  of  Italy;  the  commencement  of 
the  revolution  in  America,  the  signal  for  which  was 
given  by  Caracas  in  separating  from  the  metropolis; 
and  the  incorporation  of  Valais,  of  the  Hanseatic 
cities,  and  of  Oldenburg  into  the  Empire. 

The  annexation  of  Valais  to  the  Empire  followed 
that  of  Holland,  and  Valais  became  a  new  department 
under  the  name  of  the  Simplon  department. 

The  immense  development  which  English  commerce 
had  taken  in  the  German  Ocean,  and  in  the  Baltic, 
where  England  had  important  markets,  in  Heligoland 
and  elsewhere,  the  evident  favour  which  was  accorded 
to  her  by  the  States  on  this  seaboard,  rendered  the 
system  of  a  continental  blockade  an  illusory  one.  The 
uselessness  of  the  efforts  made  by  France  to  oppose 
collusion  and  smuggling,  and  to  remedy  the  inactivity 
of  several  governments,  made  Napoleon  determine 
to  occupy  the  German  countries  situated  between  these 
two  seas.  The  edicts  of  the  British  council,  in  tear- 
ing up  the  charters  of  European  international  law,  au- 
thorized the  use  of  even  the  most  violent  measures  for 
combating  the  odious  maritime  tyranny  of  England. 
It  was  indispensable  for  the  success  of  the  system 
which  had  been  adopted  for  the  enfranchisement  of 
the  seas  that  the  mouths  of  the  Escaut,  the  Meuse, 
the  Rhine,  the  Ems,  the  Weser,  and  the  Elbe  should 
be  hermetically  closed  against  the  English.  The  only 
way  of  becoming  absolutely  master  of  these  positions 
was  to  place  them  under  French  administration.  It 
was  for  this  reason  that  the  French  Government  de- 


NAPOLEON    1.  697 

clared  in  a  senatus  consiiltum,  dated  December  14th, 
1 8 10,  that  the  Hanseatic  cities,  Oldenburg,  Mecklen- 
burg, and  the  districts  situated  at  the  mouths  of  the 
rivers  mentioned,  formed  integral  parts  of  the  French 
Empire.  These  acquisitions  of  territory  formed  ten 
new  departments. 

To  these  great  events,  which  are  of  public  notoriety, 
I  must  add  the  recital  of  certain  facts  of  less  general 
interest,  which  happened  about  the  same  time. 

A  singular  occurrence  added  a  fresh  grievance  to 
all  those  which  the  Emperor  already  had  against  M. 
de  Talleyrand  and  increased  the  latter's  rancour.  Tal- 
leyrand had  a  nephew,  Augustus  de  Talleyrand,  who 
had  sought  in  marriage  a  rich  heiress  of  Orleans.  This 
lady's  guardian  insisted  that  the  suitor  should  prove 
himself  possessed  of  a  fortune  of  three  hundred  thou- 
sand francs  before  granting  his  ward's  hand.  M. 
Augustus  de  Talleyrand  applied  to  his  uncle,  who 
consented  to  advance  him  this  sum,  his  nephew  hoping 
to  be  able  to  refund  the  advance  in  time.  The  promis- 
sory note  which  he  signed  reinained  in  the  hands  of 
his  uncle,  who  promised  not  to  let  it  pass  out  of  his 
possession.  Later  on.  however,  M.  de  Talleyrand 
being  himself  short  of  money,  passed  the  note  on  to 
a  third  person,  who  came  and  asked  Augustus  dc 
Talleyrand  to  pay  it.  He  w^as  at  that  lime  ambas- 
sador to  Switzerland.  Surprised  by  this  sudden  de- 
mand, his  first  impulse  was  to  accuse  his  uncle  of 
having  broken  faitli.  Madame  Augustus  de  Talley- 
rand, greatly  upset  by  this  occurrence,  started  off  at 
once  for  Paris  from  Berne.  She  presented  herself 
at  the  Emperor's  levee,  her  husband  being  one  of  the 
Emperor's  chamberlains,  and  told  him  of  the  diffi- 
culties in  which  M.  de  Talleyrand  had  cast  his  own 
nephew.  Napoleon,  informed  of  all  the  circumstances, 
summoned  his  Archchancellor,  and  ordered  him  to  ex- 


698  MEMOIRS    OF 

press  his  displeasure  to  M.  de  Talleyrand  for  the  dis- 
grace which  his  way  of  behaving  had  brought  upon  a 
man  who  was  representing  France  abroad,  and  finally 
insisted  that  the  note  should  be  called  in  without 
delay.  M.  de  Talleyrand  was  forced  to  comply,  but 
this  direct  interference  of  the  Emperor  in  his  family 
affairs  seemed  to  him  a  gratuitous  provocation,  and 
awoke  in  him  a  resentment  which  poured  a  fresh 
dose  of  gall  into  his  heart. 

In  these  days  of  extraordinary  fortunes,  two 
Frenchwomen  who  had  started  from  lowly  origins 
acquired  an  influence  in  the  East  which,  on  more  than 
one  occasion,  they  placed  at  the  service  of  their  coun- 
trymen. 

One  of  these  modern  Roxelanas  was  the  wife  of  an 
infantry  sergeant,  and  had  been  sutler  to  the  regiment 
in  which  her  husband  had  served  during  the  French 
expedition  to  Egypt.  The  chances  of  war  threw  her 
into  the  power  of  the  Pasha  of  Jerusalem.  Claimed 
by  order  of  General  Kleber,  at  that  time  in  command 
of  the  French  army  in  Egypt,  this  woman,  satisfied 
with  her  new  position,  and  being  in  the  Pasha's  good 
graces,  refused  to  give  up  these  advantages  to  return 
to  the  precarious  position  which  she  had  formerly 
occupied.  She  remained  after  that  time  at  the  Pasha's 
court  in  Jerusalem,  but  never  forgot  in  the  midst  of 
her  splendour  that  she  was  a  Frenchwoman  and  a 
Christian.  She  used  the  influence  which  she  owed  to 
the  Pasha's  favour,  accordingly,  in  protecting  the 
Christian  establishments  in  Syria.  Napoleon,  having 
heard  of  this,  gave  orders  to  our  consuls  to  pu^  them- 
selves into  communication  with  her,  and  to  profit  by 
her  influence.  She  rendered  them  certain  services  for 
which  she  was  rewarded. 

Another  Frenchwoman,  a  Corsican  from  Balagna, 
had  been  taken  prisoner  by  the  Barbary  pirates,  who 


NAPOLEON    I.  699 

sold  her  to  the  Sultan  of  Morocco.  He  made  her  his 
favourite.  She  had  a  brother  in  France  whom  she 
thought  it  her  right  to  recommend  to  the  Emperor. 
Napoleon,  yielding  to  the  influence  of  this  woman's 
strange  destiny,  was  anxious  to  respond  to  the  confi- 
dence which  his  countrywoman  had  placed  in  him.  He 
accordingly  gave  orders  that  this  brother  should  be 
found,  and  was  disposed  to  do  something  for  him,  but 
was  obliged  to  abandon  this  project  on  hearing  that 
the  man  could  neither  read  nor  write,  and  was  totally 
unfitted  for  anything. 

The  story  of  Roustan,  Napoleon's  famous  mame- 
luke.  in  some  way  resembles  these  extraordinary  des- 
tinies. I  will  accordingly  take  this  opportunity  of 
recording  it.  Roustan  received  one  day  a  letter  from 
his  mother,  who  was  a  slave,  I  believe,  in  Turkey. 
She  wrote  to  her  son,  of  whose  good  position  in 
France  she  had  heard,  to  give  him  her  news.  Rou- 
stan was  transported  with  joy  on  hearing  that  his 
mother  was  still  alive.  Napoleon  ordered  me  to  an- 
swer the  letter,  and  to  ask  Roustan's  mother  what 
he  could  do  for  her ;  but  my  letter  for  what  reason 
I  do  not  know,  was  never  answered.  Roustan  was 
born  in  Georgia,  and  his  father,  who  had  become  doc- 
tor to  the  Pasha,  had  sent  for  his  wife  to  join  him 
with  their  two  children.  Pirates  kidnapped  the  three 
during  their  journey,  and  divided  the  prisoners 
amongst  themselves.  Roustan,  sold  in  Egypt,  was 
brought  up  in  the  house  of  Korai'm,  Bey  of  Alexan- 
dria, in  the  mameluke  novitiate.  After  the  death  of 
the  Bey,  sentenced  by  court-martial  as  guilty  of  hav- 
ing communicated  with  the  English  fleet.  Napoleon 
took  Roustan  into  his  service,  and  brought  him  back 
to  France.  Roustan  was  still  in  ignorance  of  what 
had  become  of  his  mother  and  his  sister.  He  ac- 
companied Napoleon  on  all  his  journeys,  acting  as  his 


700  MEMOIRS    OF 

outrider  and,  occasionally,  as  his  valet.  He  had  be- 
come inseparable  from  Napoleon,  and  no  picture  of 
Napoleon  was  ever  painted  without  the  silhouette  of 
his  mameluke  being  placed  behind  the  Emperor's  por- 
trait. Roustan  adapted  himself  entirely  to  French 
customs.  He  married  a  daughter  of  one  of  the  Em- 
press's ushers,  and  had  several  children  by  her  At  the 
time  of  the  abdication,  in  1814,  Roustan  could  not 
stand  the  test  of  adversity.  He  disappeared  from 
Fontainebleau,  on  the  eve  of  the  day  on  which  Napo- 
eon  was  to  leave  France  for  the  island  of  Elba,  carry- 
ing off  a  sum  of  money  which  had  been  given  him  to 
compensate  his  wife  for  the  prejudice  which  his 
absence  might  cause  her.  His  weariness  of  the  agi- 
tated life  which  he  had  been  forced  to  lead  for  so  long 
a  time,  the  uncertainty  of  the  future,  and  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  domestic  hearth,  weighed  more  in  his  eyes 
than  the  fidelity  which  he  owed  to  Napoleon,  and 
blinded  him  to  the  ingratitude  of  which  he  was  guilty 
in  abandoning  a  master  who  had  loaded  him  with 
acts  of  kindness. 

In  1810  the  Emperor  ordered  the  notes  concerning 
several  people  in  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  whose 
removal  Fouche  had  demanded,  which  were  in  the 
offices  of  the  Ministry  of  Police,  to  be  laid  before  him. 
He  was  surprised  at  the  trifling  nature  of  the  com- 
plaints made  against  them,  and  ordered  that  these  per- 
sons should  be  recalled  from  exile.  Four  or  five  of 
them  alone  were  excepted  from  his  amnesty,  amongst 
others  Mesdames  de  Chevreuse  and  Stael,  whom  Na- 
poleon knew  personally,  and  whose  malicious  way  of 
talking  displeased  him.  One  of  them  was  in  constant 
conspiracy  against  his  authority,  the  other  was  of 
an  irremediably  hostile  disposition.  The  Emperor, 
deeming  them  incorrigible,  as  well  as  Madame  Re- 


NAPOLEON    I.  701 

camier,  one  of  Madame  de  Stael's  henchwomen,  for- 
bade them  to  live  in  Paris  in  the  strictest  terms,  with- 
out assigning  hmits  of  time  to  this  ostracism. 

On  the  same  occasion  Napoleon  wished  to  inform 
himself  what  was  the  real  state  of  affairs  in  the  Fau- 
bourg St.  Germain  which  certain  persons,  from  pre- 
judice or  by  interest,  tried  to  make  him  look  upon  as  a 
bogey.  He  ordered  information,  accordingly,  to  be 
supplied  of  influential  families  who  were  known  for 
their  active  opposition  or  for  their  harmless  sulking 
against  the  new  order  of  things.  I  drew  up  a  kind 
of  dictionary,  with  this  purpose  in  view,  by  help  of 
the  contradictory  notes  supplied  by  MM.  de  Talley- 
rand, Semonville,  Duroc  and  the  Minister  of  Police; 
but  I  do  not  think  that  the  Emperor  ever  consulted  it, 
and  it  has  since  remained  in  my  hands. 

I  have  related  above  with  what  hesitation  Napoleon 
separated  himself  from  Fouche,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  there  were  reasons  for  complaint  against  him, 
which  were  only  too  well-founded,  and  this  in  con- 
sideration of  the  useful  services  which  he  had  rendered 
him,  especially  at  the  time  of  his  accession  to  power. 
Bourrienne  was  another  example  of  that  feeling  of  in- 
stinctive benevolence  which  attached  Napoleon  to  any- 
body who  could  invoke  "old  times"  before  him.  This 
benevolence,  this  rememl)rance  of  services  rendered  in 
an  elevated  sphere,  extended  to  the  most  modest  posts 
in  his  household.  No  old  servant  was  ever  dismissed 
until  the  Emperor  had  approved  of  the  report  ad- 
dressed to  him  on  this  subject,  and  it  was  only  on  the 
second  or  third  relapse  that  he  agreed  to  a  dismissal. 
A  poor  devil  of  a  coachman,  whose  constant  state  of 
intoxication  rendered  him  incapable  of  doing  his  work, 
escaped  being  dismissed  for  a  long  time,  because  he 
had  driven  a  waggon  at  the  battle  of  Marengo. 

The  first  usher  of  the  Emperor's  cabinet — a  man 


702  MEMOIRS  OF 

called  Landolre — whom  the  Emperor  liked,  and  whose 
old  and  faithful  services  he  appreciated — having  lost 
his  wife,  desired,  on  account  of  family  affairs,  to  re- 
marry with  his  wife's  sister.  Such  marriages  were 
forbidden  by  the  civil  code.  The  Emperor,  to  whom 
Landoire  applied,  told  him  that  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  grant  him  this  request;  but,  vanquished  by  the 
pressing  demands  of  the  man,  Napoleon  charged  the 
Grand  Judge  to  make  a  report  to  him  of  the  matter. 
The  conclusions  of  the  Minister's  report  were  to  the 
effect  that  although  the  person  whom  Landoire  wished 
to  marry  was  only  his  wife's  half-sister,  the  prohibi- 
tion was  so  formal  that  the  Emperor  could  not  author- 
ize the  marriage  without  committing  a  flagrant  vio- 
lation of  the  law.  Napoleon  sympathized  with  his 
servant's  grief  and  had  it  suggested  to  him  to  go  and 
marry  in  some  neighbouring  state  which  was  outside 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  civil  code.  Landoire  could  only 
get  married  in  1814,  when  marriages  of  this  kind 
ceased  to  be  absolutely  forbidden. 

If  the  examples  of  Napoleon's  goodness  were  limited 
to  those  which  I  have  just  quoted,  they  would  not  be 
conclusive  in  favour  of  the  natural  kindness  of  his 
disposition.  There  is  no  tyrant,  however  savage  he 
may  be  deemed  to  be,  who  has  not  his  good  moments. 
What  I  wanted  to  say  was  that  this  kindness  was  the 
usual  state  of  his  mind,  and  that  it  was  practised  on 
every  opportunity.  Even  when  Napoleon  had  thought 
it  his  duty  to  reprimand  severely,  his  real  disposition 
got  the  upper  hand  and  sooner  or  later  made  amends 
for  any  injustice  in  what  he  had  said.  I  do  not  want 
to  digress  too  far,  nor  to  mention  the  numerous  ex- 
amples of  Napoleon's  disposition  to  remember  past 
services.  These  examples  are  generally  well  known, 
and  I  will  content  myself  with  mentioning  the  fol- 
lowing, which  are  less  so.     In  1809,  General  Carnot 


NAPOLEON    I.  703 

found  himself  in  debt.  Since  Napoleon's  accession 
to  the  Empire  he  had  constantly  maintained  an  atti- 
tude of  pronounced  hostility  towards  the  new  regime. 
As  this  general's  conduct  was  the  result  of  his  con- 
victions, and  not  of  personal  feeling,  he  presumed  on 
the  sovereign's  generosity  to  the  extent  of  asking  his 
support  in  a  critical  moment  and  accordingly  sent  me, 
through  the  agency  of  M.  Collignon,  his  kinsman,  with 
whom  I  had  been  in  relations,  a  letter  in  which  he 
asked  me  to  ask  the  Emperor  for  the  loan  of  a  suffi- 
cient sum  to  settle  his  difficulties.  The  Emperor  be- 
ing touched  by  Carnot's  coniidence  in  him  hastened 
to  assist  him.  By  a  delicate  feeling  he  did  not  ask  to  be 
informed  of  the  state  of  the  general's  affairs,  nor  did 
he  ask  him  to  lay  his  accounts  before  him.  Napoleon 
simply  asked  the  Minister  of  War  at  what  time  Car- 
not  had  ceased  to  receive  his  pay  as  a  general,  and  or- 
dered the  arrears  with  accessories  to  be  paid  over  to 
him,  which  realized  more  than  Carnot  needed  for  his 
debts.  At  the  same  time  he  granted  him  a  pension  of 
ten  thousand  francs  as  a  former  minister.  Carnot, 
out  of  gratitude  for  the  Emperor's  generosity  to- 
wards him,  offered  him  his  services.  An  exchange 
of  courtesies  then  took  place  between  them  which 
honours  them  both  alike.  Napoleon,  out  of  considera- 
tion for  Carnot's  political  convictions,  did  not  wish  to 
assign  him  to  a  post  the  duties  of  which  might  clash 
with  his  opinions.  He  asked  him  purely  and  simply 
to  write  a  book  on  the  defence  of  fortified  places,  in- 
viting him  to  give  the  authority  of  his  name  to  the 
principle  of  defence  carried  to  its  extremest  limits. 
Recent  examples  had  shown  the  necessity  of  re-estab- 
lishing this  principle.  Carnot  lost  no  time  in  carrying 
out  the  Emperor's  wishes,  and  a  few  months  later 
sent  him  the  work,  together  with  the  following  let- 
ter:— 


704  MEMOIRS   OF 

"Sire, 

"Not  having  been  able  to  offer  your  Majesty 
the  first  copy  of  my  work  on  the  defence  of  fortified 
places,  with  my  own  hands,  I  have  begged  H.  E.  the 
Minister  of  War  to  present  it  to  you  in  my  name.  My 
best  endeavours  have  been  used  in  this  book  to  point 
out  to  young  soldiers  intended  for  this  branch  of  the 
service,  the  true  path  of  duty,  and  to  inspire  them  with 
the  feelings  of  honour  and  of  devotion  to  your  person 
with  which  they  should  be  animated.  I  personally 
have  been  guided  in  the  course  of  my  work  by  my 
feeling  of  profound  gratitude  towards  you.  May  this 
feeling  supplement  the  talent  which  I  should  have 
needed  to  carry  out  your  wishes  in  a  worthy  manner. 
"I  am.  Sire,  Your  Majesty's  very  humble  and  very 
obedient  servant,  and  faithful  subject, 

"(Signed)  Carnot/' 

Later  on,  in  1814,  when  misfortune  fell  upon 
France,  and  the  importance  of  our  fortified  places  was 
increased  by  the  invasion  of  the  territory,  Carnot  of- 
fered Napoleon  the  assistance  of  his  sword  and  of  his 
experience,  in  a  touching  letter.  His  offer  having  been 
accepted  he  was  sent  to  Antwerp,  where  he  added  ex- 
ample to  the  precept  which  he  had  so  wisely  and  so 
eloquently  expounded. 

Chenier,  having  become  the  adversary  of  the  Em- 
peror, whom  he  even  attacked  in  his  writings,  applied 
none  the  less  to  him  for  a  post  which  he  needed.  As 
I  had  known  him  formerly  it  was  through  me  that  his 
letter  reached  its  destination.  After  Chenier  left  the 
Tribunate,  the  First  Consul  had  offered  him  the  place 
of  administrator  of  the  post-office.  It  was  a  kind  of 
sinecure  which  would  have  enabled  Chenier  to  give 
himself  up  to  his  literary  work.  Such  occupations 
were  better  suited  for  him,  and  would  without  doubt 


NAPOLEON    I. 


/'-'D 


have  replaced  in  a  profitable  and  advantageous  manner 
the  systematic  opposition  which  had  won  for  him 
in  the  Tribunate  the  empty  shadow  of  the  influence 
which  he  had  formerly  exercised  in  the  heart  of  the 
Convention  and  of  the  popular  assemblies.  Chenier 
refused  this  lucrative  post,  although  he  was  fond  of 
spending  money,  and  combined  republican  ideas  with 
a  little  aristocratic  display.  He  proudly  wished  to 
earn  the  salary  of  the  place  given  to  him.  He  asked  for 
the  place  of  University  Inspector,  a  place  which  was 
more  suited  to  his  tastes  and  aptitude,  and  in  spite  of 
the  wretched  state  of  his  health  courageously  under- 
took a  long  tour  on  the  inspection  of  schools.  His 
vanity  as  a  poet,  which  could  brook  no  contradiction, 
often  made  him  forget  that  the  spirit  of  conciliation 
was  necessary  in  the  functions  which  he  fulfilled.  A 
spirit  of  opposition,  the  recollection  of  his  former  po- 
litical passions  led  him  on  to  indiscreet  attacks  against 
the  power  of  the  Head  of  the  State.  On  a  report  from 
Fouche,  who  until  then  had  been  his  protector,  the 
place  of  University  Inspector  was  withdrawn  from 
him.  Financial  embarrassment,  indeed,  a  state  of  real 
distress,  to  which  he  was  reduced  by  the  loss  of  his 
occupation,  got  the  better  of  his  pride.  Palissot,  who 
liked  him  very  much,  persuaded  him  after  a  long  re- 
sistance to  appeal  to  the  Emperor's  generosity,  and 
assured  him  that  I  would  willingly  undertake  to  place 
his  letter  before  the  sovereign's  eyes.  On  reading 
his  letter  Napoleon  was  touched  by  the  sad  position 
into  which  a  man  whose  talents  he  respected  had  fallen, 
and  he  made  haste  to  hand  over  to  the  poet  a  sum  of 
money  which  he  needed  to  pay  his  debts.  At  the 
same  time  he  commissioned  him  to  continue  the  His- 
tory' of  France,  and  entrusted  him  with  other  literary 
work,  rewarding  him  with  a  handsome  salary.  Che- 
nier did  not  enjoy  this  new  favour  for  any  great  length 


7o6  MEMOIRS    OF 

of  time,  for  death  overtook  him  in  the  prime  of  Hfe 
and  at  the  moment  when  his  talents  had  reached  their 
greatest  height. 

Charles  Pougens,  an  estimable  literary  man,  and  a 
Member  of  the  Institute,  had  had  the  misfortune  to 
lose  his  sight.  This  state  of  blindness  had  not,  how- 
ever, interrupted  him  in  his  literary  work.  Deprived 
of  all  resources  by  the  events  of  the  Revolution,  he  had 
succeeded  in  establishing  a  printing-office,  to  which 
he  had  added  a  bookseller's  shop.  He  had  been  known 
to  General  Bonaparte,  whose  library  he  had  formed 
at  the  time  of  his  departure  for  Egypt.  A  series  of 
bankruptcies  ruined  Pougens  in  1803.  In  his  distress 
it  occurred  to  him  to  apply  to  the  First  Consul,  who 
at  that  time  happened  to  be  at  the  camp  at  Boulogne. 
The  courier  who  had  carried  M.  Pougens'  letter  re- 
turned with  an  order  that  40,000  francs  were  to  be 
advanced  to  him.  This  loan  was  to  be  paid  back  in  a 
period  of  four  years.  Ten  years  later  half  this  sum 
was  still  owing,  but  touched  by  the  energy  of  his 
debtor's  efforts,  and  by  his  honesty,  Napoleon  dis- 
charged him  of  the  20,000  francs  which  remained  ow- 
ing, in  a  decision  issued  April  loth,  1813.  It  was 
stated  in  this  decision  that  this  favour  was  granted  to 
M.  Pougens  in  compensation  for  the  suppression  of  his 
printing-office,  and  as  a  reward  for  the  labours  which 
he  was  carrying  out  for  the  achievement  of  his  great 
work  "Le  Trcsor  des  Origines,"  the  complete  publica- 
tion of  which  was  prevented  by  the  author's  death, 
Pougens  was  only  able  to  print  one  specimen  in  folio, 
which  shows  immense  erudition  and  research,  really 
surprising  when  one  considers  that  the  author  had 
lost  his  sight. 

It  would  be  easy  to  quote  other  examples  and  nu- 
merous proofs  of  Napoleon's  liberality  as  well  as  of 
the  delicacy  which  he  employed  in  his  way  of  obliging. 


NAPOLEON    I.  707 

Without  referring  again  to  his  munificence  towards 
his  generals  1  am  in  a  position  to  say  that  his  ministers, 
senators,  and  many  other  civil  functionaries  enjoyed 
the  benefits  of  a  generosity  to  which  those  who  were 
worthy  of  it  never  appealed  in  vain. 

I  had  asked  the  Emperor  for  a  pension  on  the  Em- 
pire Press  Fund  in  favour  of  my  old  friend  Palissot. 
1  haggled  with  him  for  a  long  time  as  to  the  amount 
of  this  pension.  He  did  not  want  it  to  exceed  3000 
francs,  although  he  had  quite  recently  awarded  a  pen- 
sion of  6000  francs  to  the  poet  Lebrun  (ficouchard). 
We  had  a  kind  of  discussion,  in  which  Napoleon  con- 
sented to  engage  with  me,  on  the  respective  merits  of 
the  two  poets.  He  authorized  me  to  prepare  for  him 
a  draft  decree  granting  Palissot  a  pension,  but  only  one 
of  3CXX)  francs.  As  he  very  readily  put  up  with  being 
contradicted  on  questions  which  only  interested  him 
slightly,  and  indeed  very  often  gave  way  on  these 
points  I  told  him  that  since  he  consented  to  give  my 
protege  a  pension,  I  could  not  make  this  amount  less 
than  6000  francs  in  the  decree  which  I  should  prepare 
for  him  for  his  signature.  He  answered  nothing;  but 
when  I  laid  the  decree  before  him  Napoleon  cried  out. 
Turning  round  towards  me  he  caught  hold  of  my  ear, 
which  was  a  familiar  gesture  of  his,  and  reproached 
me,  laughing,  at  having  wanted  to  get  his  signature  by 
surprise.  Then  laying  down  his  pen  he  repeated  his 
objections  on  the  inferiority  of  Palissot's  merit  as 
compared  with  Lebrun.  At  last,  after  jesting  with  me 
in  a  kindly  manner  on  my  tenacity,  he  was  good 
enough  to  compound  with  me,  and  to  award  a  pension 
of  4000  francs  to  my  worthy  friend,  who  enjoyed  it 
until  his  death,  which  took  place  just  at  the  time  when 
the  Restoration  was  about  to  deprive  him  of  his 
pension. 

Napoleon   is   suppo.sed   to  have   been   incapable  of 

J — MemoirH  \  «'••  "i 


7o8  MEMOIRS    OF 

friendship.  Hatred,  which  has  worked  with  such  assi- 
duity to  disfigure  this  great  character,  could  not  fail  to 
seek  to  strip  him  of  the  most  precious  attribute  of  true 
greatness.  Napoleon  had  sincere  friends  whose  friend- 
ship he  often  requited :  Desaix,  Lannes,  Duroc,  Bes- 
sieres,  Muiron,  and  others  whose  names  are  not  before 
my  memory  just  now.  Misfortune  is  a  crucible  in 
which  friendship  is  refined,  and  often  dissolved,  but 
the  friends  whom  I  have  named  were  profoundly 
attached  to  Napoleon,  and  would  have  remained 
faithful  to  him  as  he  on  his  side  was  to  their  mem- 
ory. 

The  interest  which  Napoleon  took  in  those  whom  he 
loved  proves  that  he  was  capable  of  attachment.  A 
general  officer  whom  he  had  adopted  from  the  moment 
of  his  entering  the  military  profession,  whom  he  had 
supported  and  guided  with  particular  interest,  and  to 
whom  he  had  given  the  most  favourable  opportunity 
of  distinguishing  himself  in  war,  had  just  been  raised 
to  the  highest  dignity  in  the  army.  The  Duke  de  Ra- 
guse,  after  having  received  his  nomination  as  Marshal, 
presented  himself  in  the  Emperor's  tent  to  thank  him. 
Napoleon  said : 

"I  have  given  you  your  nomination,  and  I  had  great 
pleasure  in  giving  you  this  new  proof  of  my  affection; 
but  I  am  afraid  I  may  have  incurred  the  reproach  of 
having  listened  rather  to  my  affection  than  to  your 
rights  to  this  eminent  distinction.  You  have  plenty 
of  intelligence,  but  there  are  needed  for  war  qualities 
in  which  you  are  still  lacking,  and  which  you  must 
work  to  acquire.  Be  it  said  amongst  ourselves  that 
you  have  not  yet  done  enough  to  entirely  justify  my 
choice;  at  the  same  time  I  am  confident  that  I  shall 
have  reason  to  congratulate  myself  on  having  nomina- 
ted you,  and  that  you  will  justify  me  in  the  eyes  of  the 
army." 


NAPOLEON    I.  709 

The  man  to  whom  these  words  were  addressed, 
touched  by  such  paternal  feehng,  agreed  as  to  what  he 
owed  to  the  Emperor's  goodness,  and  protested  that 
it  was  his  intention  to  render  himself  altogether 
worthy  of  it,  and  to  give  him  fresh  proofs  of  his  de- 
votion. 

1  did  not  mention  Berthier's  name  amongst  the 
Emperor's  friends  because  of  his  defection  in  1814, 
and  I  was  wrong.  If  a  moment  of  error  separated  this 
marshal  from  the  Emperor  at  that  time,  Berthier  had 
preserved  too  deeply-rooted  a  remembrance  of  his  old 
master  not  to  survive  adversity.  I  very  nearly  met 
the  Prince  of  Wagram  at  Waldsee,  a  town  in  Wiir- 
temberg,  in  181 5,  when,  like  a  plant  which  turns  its 
face  towards  the  orb  from  the  rays  of  which  it  derives 
its  existence,  Berthier  was  on  his  way  to  join  the  per- 
son whom  he  called  his  brother-in-arms,  his  faithful 
companion  in  war,  his  wife.  The  Emperor  on  his 
side  could  not  forget  him.  He  used  to  say,  laughingly, 
that  when  Berthier  returned — and  Napoleon  never 
doubted  that  Berthier  would  return — he  would  take  no 
other  revenge  upon  him  than  to  oblige  him  to  come  to 
the  Tuileries  in  the  uniform  of  Louis  XVIIL's  guards. 
We  may  be  quite  sure  that  the  Emperor  would  not 
have  insisted  on  this. 

Adversity,  moreover,  drew  close  to  Napoleon  at  St. 
Helena  men  whose  devotion  he  would  never  have  had 
full  opportunity  of  judging  in  the  days  of  his  pros- 
perity, and  amongst  these  it  is  right  with  others  to 
mention  the  name  of  ]M.  de  Las  Cases,  in  whose  sym- 
pathy and  fidelity  the  illustrious  captive  found  conso- 
lation in  his  exile.  Napoleon's  feelings  towards  this 
courtier  under  misfortune  are  shown  in  a  letter  which 
is  a  monument  of  true  friendship,  which  the  Emi)cror 
wrote  to  his  faithful  servant  when  England  forced 
him  to  leave  Longwood.     M.  dc  Las  Cases  responded 


7IO  MEMOIRS    OF 

to  these  feelings  by  publishing  a  book,  which  in  spite 
of  its  faults  became  and  will  remain  popular. 

The  "Memorial  of  St.  Helena"  was  the  first  and 
most  powerful  protest  against  an  odious  system  of 
calumny  and  libel,  inspired  by  hatred  and  an  abuse  of 
victory.  The  "  Memorial  "  caused  a  publication  which 
on  its  appearance  excited  general  curiosity  in  Europe, 
to  be  forgotten.  I  refer  to  the  "Manuscript  which 
came  from  St.  Helena  in  a  Manner  Unknown."  At 
the  time  when  this  book  was  published  the  mysterious 
way  in  which  it  reached  England  and  had  been  ad- 
dressed to  the  most  celebrated  bookseller  in  London, 
the  strong  desire  to  obtain  revelations  from  Napoleon 
about  himself,  the  disgust  with  the  diatribes  pub- 
lished against  him,  and  finally  the  interest  which  was 
inspired  by  the  greatness  of  his  misfortune,  prepared 
a  greedy  reception  for  this  alleged  St.  Helena  manu- 
script. On  the  other  hand,  the  anachronisms,  the  im- 
probabilities and  the  vulgar  mistakes  interspersed  in 
pages  full  of  lofty  ideas  and  picturesque  and  character- 
istic expressions,  held  the  public  mind  in  suspense. 
The  anachronisms  were  explained  by  the  statement 
that  it  had  been  necessary  in  order  to  rescue  the  sheets 
of  the  manuscript  from  the  inquisition  of  the  gaoler 
of  St.  Helena,  to  separate  them,  and  to  send  them  to 
Europe  by  roundabout  ways,  so  that  the  confusion 
which  had  resulted  therefrom  had  prevented  their 
being  put  in  their  right  order.  Indeed  a  proof  of  the 
authenticity  of  the  book  was  seen  in  these  very  an- 
achronisms because  it  was  pointed  out  that  no  spurious 
author  would  have  committed  them.  The  mistakes 
about  facts  were  attributed  to  the  loss  of  several 
sheets  of  the  manuscript,  which  had  to  be  rewritten 
by  somebody  else's  pen.  These  explanations,  good  or 
bad,  having  been  admitted,  the  book  was  generally 
considered   to   be   the   work   of   Napoleon   himself, 


NAPOLEON    I.  711 

amongst  persons  whose  functions  had  formerly  put 
them  into  direct  communication  with  him.  Reflection 
however,  and  a  more  careful  examination  of  the 
manuscript,  very  soon  increased  the  doubts  as  to  its 
authenticity.  There  were  mentioned  as  having  been 
its  authors,  first  of  all  Madame  de  Stael,  then  Benja- 
min Constant.  The  Emperor  himself  attributed  it  to 
a  Councillor  of  State  whom  he  did  not  name,  who, 
according  to  his  statement,  had  been  on  ordinary  ser- 
vice under  the  Consulate.  Public  opinion  finally  set- 
tled upon  a  relation  of  Count  Simeon's,  who  occupied 
a  place  in  the  financial  department  in  the  South  of 
France.  Count  Simeon,  being  approached  on  the  sub- 
ject, admitted  that  his  relation  was  responsible  for  the 
book.  The  secret  which  the  true  author  of  the  book 
had  kept  was  at  last  confided  to  his  family.  The 
"Manuscript  of  St.  Helena,"  which  appeared  fated  to 
remain  enveloped  in  the  mystery  which  enshrouds  to 
this  day  the  Letters  of  Junius,  and  other  historical 
writings  and  deeds,  whose  authors,  or  those  who  took 
part  in  them,  will  probably  remain  unknown  for  ever, 
was  from  the  pen  of  M.  Frederic  Lullin  de  Chateau- 
vieux,  a  Genevese,  already  known  to  the  scientific 
world.  This  writer  has  admitted,  after  keeping  silent 
for  twenty-five  years,  that  he  wrote  this  book,  in  18 16; 
that  he  carried  it  himself  to  London,  and  posted  it  to 
Murray  the  j)ublisher.  The  draft  of  this  little  work, 
entirely  written  by  its  author's  hand,  and  covered  with 
his  corrections,  was  found  amongst  his  papers  after 
his  death,  and  M.  Simeon's  cousin  readily  renounced 
a  paternity  which  people  persisted  in  attributing  to 
him. 

Napoleon  had  an  inclination  for  various  people  who 
made  their  mark  in  the  history  of  this  century,  and 
amongst  others  for  M.  de  Talleyrand.  The  latter  had 
foreseen  the  future  elevation  of  General  Bonaparte  at 


712  MEMOIRS    OF 

the  time  when  the  Directoire  had  raised  the  former 
Bishop  of  Autun  to  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
The  First  Consul  and  Emperor  remembered  this  fact, 
and  there  perhaps  Hes  the  reason  of  the  sympathy 
which  Napoleon  so  long  retained  for  Talleyrand.  Even 
when  guilty  collusions,  financial  matters,  and  warn- 
ings given  by  foreign  sovereigns  obliged  the  Emperor 
to  remove  this  minister's  portfolio,  and  to  dismiss  him 
from  his  councils,  an  instinctive  liking  drew  him  back 
towards  him.  In  1803,  the  Emperor  had  asked  the 
Pope  to  secularize  the  former  prelate,  a  feeling  of 
propriety  making  him  desire  to  see  the  latter  in  a  posi- 
tion better  suited  to  the  worldly  career  which  he  had 
embraced;  but  it  was  not  the  same  when  M.  Talley- 
rand expressed  to  the  Head  of  the  State  his  wish  to 
marry.  The  Empress  Josephine,  Mrs.  Grant's  friend, 
helped  her  with  all  her  influence  on  the  Emperor's 
mind;  but  Napoleon  remained  deaf  to  all  her  entreat- 
ies. Sometimes  Josephine  used  to  go  up  by  the  little 
staircase  which  communicated  between  her  apartment 
and  the  Emperor's  cabinet,  and  would  come  and  knock 
at  the  door.  One  day,  being  alone,  I  opened  the  door. 
She  had  come  to  tell  "Bonaparte"  that  Madame  Grant 
was  there,  and  to  beg  him  to  listen  to  her  for  a  nio- 
ment.  Napoleon  at  last  allowed  himself  to  be  in- 
fluenced and  went  downstairs  to  his  wife's  rooms, 
where  he  found  Madame  Grant  in  a  suppliant  attitude, 
imploring  him  with  clasped  hands  not  to  put  an  ob- 
stacle in  the  way  of  her  marriage.  Napoleon  could 
not  resist  a  woman's  tears  and  entreaties,  and  promised 
to  remain  neutral,  which  was  all  he  could  do.  The 
marriage  took  place,  but  was  not  destined  to  be  a 
happy  one. 

In  1810,  when  Talleyrand  had  lost  between  fourteen 
and  fifteen  hundred  thousand  francs  in  banker  Simon's 
bankruptcy,  the  Emperor,,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he 


NAPOLEON    I.  713 

had  real  grievances  against  his  former  Minister,  came 
to  his  assistance.  He  purchased  the  Monaco  mansion, 
which  M.  Talleyrand  wanted  to  sell,  for  two  million 
and  some  hundred  thousand  francs.  Now  in  purchas- 
ing this  house  Napoleon  was  acting  against  a  rule 
which  he  had  made  of  never  buying  houses  or  estates 
which  were  expensive  to  keep  up,  for  he  had  no  need 
of  such,  seeing  that  the  imperial  domains  and  castles 
amply  sufficed  him. 

Napoleon  also  truly  loved  the  Emperor  Alexander, 
whom  he  found  superior  to  the  sovereigns  of  the  day. 
The  Czar's  wit,  his  grace,  and  his  affability  had 
charmed  the  Emperor.  In  spite  of  the  most  caressing 
demonstrations,  it  must  be  acknowledged  to-day  that 
the  Russian  monarch's  affection  for  Napoleon  was 
never  sincere.  As  to  the  latter,  he  succumbed  to  the 
charm  of  the  cunning  Alexander,  in  spite  of  all  the 
strong  reasons  which  he  had  to  abandon  his  illusions. 
Napoleon  had  retained  such  feelings  for  this  prince 
that  he  used  to  say  that  an  hour's  conversation  would 
have  sufficed  to  efface  all  traces  of  resentment  between 
them.  I  witnessed,  at  Tilsitt  and  Erfurth,  the  charm- 
ing familiarity  which  existed  between  Napoleon  and 
Alexander,  and  the  affectionate  intimacy  which  mani- 
fested itself  in  their  private  and  almost  daily  corre- 
spondence. I  like  to  believe  that  amongst  the  causes 
of  the  profound  melancholy  which  embittered  the 
Czar's  last  days  were  mingled  some  remembrances  of 
the  moments  spent  at  Tilsitt  and  at  Erfurth,  and  the 
picture  of  the  agony  of  St.  Helena.  Napoleon,  with- 
out putting  aside  the  recjuirements  of  his  general  policy 
was  filled  with  condescension  towards  Alexander. 
The  following  incident  will  serve  as  an  example,  albeit 
it  touches  Napoleon's  military  glory  as  well  as  his  poli- 
tics. Having  noticed  that  Alexander  had  retained  a 
bitter  remembrance  of  his  defeat   at  Austerlitz,   the 


714  MEMOIRS    OF 

victor  ordered  his  cipher  to  be  secretly  removed  from 
the  bas-reHefs  on  the  cohimn  in  the  Place  Vendome, 
where  it  figured  on  the  helmets  and  the  breastplates 
of  the  Russian  soldiers.  The  Czar,  on  entering  into 
Paris,  had  he  paid  attention  to  the  matter,  might  have 
seen  in  the  absence  of  this  cipher  a  proof  of  the  deli- 
cate generosity  of  his  former  ally. 

The  excommunication  fulminated  in  1809  by  the 
Pope,  which  had  passed  almost  unnoticed  at  the  time, 
had  not  prevented  the  Emperor's  marriage,  nor  checked 
the  discussion  of  the  religious  questions  which  were 
being  dealt  with  in  an  ecclesiastical  commisson  to 
which  the  examination  of  all  litigious  matters  had  been 
submitted. 

Towards  the  end  of  18 10  the  Emperor  heard  that 
this  excommunication,  as  well  as  the  Papal  bulls  direc- 
ted against  the  nomination  of  Cardinal  Maury  to  the 
archbishopric  of  Paris,  and  against  the  nominations 
of  two  other  bishops,  were  in  secret  circulation.  The 
bull  of  excommunication  had  even  been  clandestinely 
posted  up  during  the  night  on  the  doors  of  Notre 
Dame.  Abbe  d'Astros,  grand  vicar  to  the  chapter  of 
Paris,  was  suspected  of  having  had  a  hand  in  this 
matter.  The  examination  of  this  abbe's  papers,  and 
his  own  confessions,  dispelled  all  doubts  on  this  sub- 
ject. But  what  irritated  the  Emperor  in  the  highest 
degree  was  to  hear  that  Portalis,  the  Councillor  of 
State,  son  of  the  former  Minister  of  Public  Worship, 
to  whom  had  been  extended  the  same  kindness  which 
the  Emperor  had  shown  towards  his  father,  had  also 
received  communication  of  these  bulls  in  secret.  At 
the  first  sitting  of  the  Council  of  State  at  which  Na- 
poleon presided — January  5th,  181 1 — he  addressed 
Count  Portalis  in  very  severe  terms,  and  after  a  sharp 
reprimand  ordered  him  to  leave  the  room,  and  banished 


NAPOLEON    I.  715 

him  from  Paris.  At  St.  Helena  Napoleon  blamed 
himself,  and  perhaps  not  without  reason,  for  having 
humbled  M.  Portalis  too  deeply  in  ordering  him  to 
leave  the  room.  He  said  that  he  should  have  contented 
himself  witli  severely  blaming  him  before  the  whole 
Council  of  State  assembled.  Placed  between  the  se- 
vere necessity  of  denouncing  his  religion,  and  his 
duties  toward  his  sovereign,  who  had  a  rigiit  to  de- 
mand unreserved  fidelity  from  him,  M.  Portalis's  po- 
sition was  a  difficult  one.  It  is  not  my  place  to  decide 
what  he  ought  to  have  done  to  conciliate  all. 

I  was  much  exercised  by  AI.  Portalis's  disgrace.  I 
had  been  employed  with  him  at  the  Congress  of  Lune- 
ville,  and  at  the  Congress  of  Amiens,  and  our  relations,  ' 
begun  under  these  circumstances,  had  been  continued. 
I  have  even  in  my  possession  letters  which  he  wrote 
to  me  from  Berlin,  where  he  was  secretary  of  legation, 
letters  in  which  his  assurances  of  friendship  towards 
me  are  mingled  with  his  expressions  of  devotion  to- 
wards the  Emperor.  When  he  w^as  recalled  in  181 3, 
and  appointed  first  president  to  the  imperial  court  at 
Angers,  I  made  haste  to  go  and  congratulate  him. 

The  arrest  of  several  prelates  and  canons,  compro- 
mised by  the  papers  which  had  been  seized  at  the 
house  of  d'Astros,  the  grand  vicar,  followed  on  the 
discovery  of  this  religious  conspiracy.  On  the  day 
after  the  scene  at  the  Council  of  State,  on  January  6th, 
181 1,  the  metropolitan  chapter  of  Paris  thought  icight 
to  present  the  Emperor  with  an  address  exposing  its 
profession  of  faith  in  favour  of  the  liberties  of  the 
Gallican  Church  and  Bossuet's  four  propositions.  The 
majority  of  the  archbishops,  bishops,  and  chapters  of 
Italy  adhered  to  the  declaration  of  the  Paris  chapter. 

Napoleon,  full  of  his  great  designs  on  Italy,  and 
with  a  view  to  opposing  an  obstacle  to  the  abuse  of 
the  Papal  authority,  convened  a  national  council   in 


7i6  MEMOIRS    OF 

Paris,  whose  apparent  object  it  was  to  deliberate  on 
the  best  means  of  providing  for  the  canonical  institu- 
tion of  nominated  bishops,  when  the  Pope  refused  to 
do  this.  This  council,  composed  of  more  than  one 
hundred  bishops  of  the  churches  of  France  and  Italy, 
assembled  on  June  17th  under  the  presidence  of  Car- 
dinal Fesch.  The  Emperor  had  reason  to  complain  of 
the  bad  direction  taken  by  this  assembly.  The  coun- 
cil did  not  respond  to  his  views,  declared  itself  in- 
competent to  decide  the  question  of  the  institution  of 
bishops,  and  proposed  that  a  deputation  should  be  sent 
to  the  Pope  to  come  to  an  understanding  with  His 
Holiness  on  how  the  precarious  state  of  the  Churches 
of  France  and  Italy  could  best  be  remedied.  Many 
French  bishops,  the  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux  amongst 
others,  manifested  ultramontane  dispositions,  contrary 
to  the  large  majority  of  Italian  bishops,  who  showed 
themselves  more  independent  of  the  Court  of  Rome. 

When  the  Emperor  was  informed  that  the  Council 
had  determined  to  declare  itself  incompetent,  he  or- 
dered it  to  be  dissolved.  The  majority  of  the  bishops 
reassembled  some  days  later,  and  this  time,  admitting 
the  competence  of  the  council,  discussed  the  principal 
point  submitted  to  them  for  discussion,  and  fixed  at 
six  months  the  period  accorded  to  the  Pope  to  confer 
canonical  investiture  on  bishops  after  which  time  this 
investiture  was  to  be  carried  out  by  the  Metropolitan 
or,  in  his  absence,  by  the  oldest  bishop  in  the  province, 
without  the  Pope's  interference. 

In  the  preceding  month  of  January  the  Emperor 
had  appointed  an  ecclesiastical  commission,  composed 
of  nine  French  cardinals,  archbishops,  and  bishops,  for 
the  purpose  of  settling  these  questions.  This  commis- 
sion, after  studying  past  history,  and  basing  its  de- 
cision on  precedents,  expressed  the  opinion  that  the 
investiture  of  bishops  who  had  been  nominated  to  sees 


NAPOLEON    I.  717 

should  be  entrusted  to  the  Mctropohtan,  or  to  his  suf- 
fragan, in  all  cases  where  the  Pope  refused  to  act. 
This  deliberation  was  carried  to  the  Holy  Father  by 
the  ecclesiastical  cominission,  to  whom  the  Emperor 
had  added  Abbe  Eymeri,  the  superior  of  the  seminary 
of  St.  Sulpice,  whom  he  much  esteemed.     After  long 
hesitation  the  Pope  finally  adhered  to  this  proposal. 
The  national  council,  in  consequence,  issued  a  decree 
in  conformity  therewith,  and  charged  a  large  deputa- 
tion to  carry  the  text  of  this  decree  to  the  Pope  for 
his  ratification.     The  Pope  sanctioned  the  resolution 
adopted  by  the  council,  but  he  imposed  on  the  arch- 
bishops and  bishops  who  were  authorized  to  give  the 
investiture  the  formal  obligation  of  declaring  that  they 
were  only  acting  in  the  Pope's  name.     Although  the 
Emperor's    object    of    giving    preponderance    to    the 
power  and  right  of  the  national  council  over  the  papal 
authority,  and  of  opposing  the  former  to  the  Court  of 
Rome,   was   not  altogether   fulfilled,   since   the   Pope, 
passing  over  the  council's  decision  in  silence,  appeared 
as  the  final  authority,  this  first  essay  appeared  never- 
theless sufficient  to  Napoleon  for  the  time  being.    The 
convocation  of  a  second  council,  in  1813,  which  would 
have  completed  the  work  of  the  first,  was  in  the  Em- 
peror's intention ;  but  events  occurred  which  prevented 
the  realization  of  this  plan.  Napoleon  at  the  same  time 
treated  three  French  bishops,  two  of  whom  were  his 
almoners,   with  rigour.     They  were  arrested  on  the 
charge  of  having  taken  part  in  intrigues,  of  having 
corresponded   illegally  with  the  black  cardinals,  and 
with  Cardinal  di  Pietro,  the  clandestine  agent  of  the 
Papacy  in  France,  and  of  having  fomented  rebellion 
amongst    the    clergy    in    underhand    ways.       These 
bishops  were  the   Bishops   of   Tournay,    Ghent,   and 
Troyes.    The  first  of  these  prelates  was  not  to  be  com- 
mended for  the  austerity  of  his  morality.     Napoleon 


7i8  MEMOIRS    OF 

had  also  to  fight  against  the  resistance  of  his  uncle, 
Cardinal  Fesch,  who  could  not  be  charged  with  sys- 
tematic opposition  against  his  nephew,  but  who  dis- 
approved of  his  open  struggle  with  the  Holy  See. 
The  Emperor's  essay,  accordingly,  was  only  partially 
successful  in  this  first  council,  and  the  majority  of 
the  upper  clergy  took  advantage  of  it  to  preach  op- 
position to  the  government.  The  advice  of  Barral — 
Archbishop  of  Tours — and  especially  of  Duvoisin, 
Bishop  of  Nantes,  in  whom  Napoleon  had  entire  con- 
fidence, prevented  the  Emperor's  anger  from  breaking 
out  on  those  who  had  opposed  him.  The  Bishop  of 
Nantes,  Napoleon  used  to  say,  was  for  him,  in  theolog- 
ical matters,  a  torch  of  which  he  did  not  wish  to  lose 
sight.  The  Emperor  allowed  himself  to  be  guided 
by  this  prelate's  advice,  and  checked  himself  whenever 
the  Bishop  of  Nantes  warned  him  that  he  was  about  to 
injure  the  faith,  or  damage  the  interests  of  the  Church  . 
of  France.  Napoleon  has  been  blamed  for  not  having 
allowed  any  writing  or  publication  either  for  or  against 
the  negotiations  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  to  appear  in 
the  Monifcur.  Such  a  polemic  was,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  opposed  to  his  views.  He  was  not  vexed  that 
public  opinion  should  be  lulled  to  sleep,  or  even  should 
go  astray,  convinced  as  he  was  that  it  would  come  back 
to  his  side  when  the  time  came  for  carrying  out  the 
plan  which  he  was  meditating.  Napoleon  has  stated 
in  his  Memoirs  that  he  never  wished  to  publish  any- 
thing connected  with  his  discussions  with  Rome. 
Things  were  not  in  a  sufficiently  advanced  state  for 
him  to  allow  anything  official  to  be  published.  He 
endured  discussions  which  he  looked  upon  in  the  light 
of  skirmishing  preliminary  to  the  decisive  battle  that 
was  to  be  fought,  but  he  did  not  want  these  to  be 
made  public,  because  he  feared  to  reveal  his  private 
opinions  and  thus  to  compromise  the  success  which  he 


NAPOLEON    I.  719 

hoped  to  obtain.  The  Emperor  used  to  say  that  in  de- 
priving the  Pope  of  his  temporal  domain,  his  object 
was  to  fortify  and  honour  his  spiritual  power.  The 
Pope  seemetl  so  necessary  to  Napoleon  that  he  used 
to  say  that  if  he  did  not  exist  he  would  have  to  be 
created.  But  he  wished  to  have  him  in  his  hands,  and 
to  establish  him  in  Paris,  so  as  to  make  this  capital  the 
metropolis  of  the  Catholic  world.  In  placing  the  Holy 
See  in  the  capital  of  the  Empire  Napoleon  would  have 
surrounded  it  with  magnificence  and  honours,  but  at 
the  same  time  he  would  always  have  kept  the  Pope 
under  his  eyes.  This  vast  ambition  was  a  permissible 
one,  and  he  would  perhaps  have  had  the  power  and  the 
genius  necessary  for  realizing  it.  The  establishment 
of  the  sovereign  Pontiff  in  Paris  would  have  been 
fruitful  in  great  political  results,  and  the  influence 
exercised  by  the  head  of  the  Church  over  the  whole 
Catholic  world  would  have  become  the  inheritance  of 
France.  That  was  the  time  of  mighty  conceptions; 
and  the  generations  which  shall  follow  us,  in  reading 
over  the  history  of  Napoleon,  will  believe  themselves 
transposed  to  the  heroic  ages. 

To  sum  up,  Napoleon  loved  his  religion  and  wished 
to  honour  it  and  render  it  prosperous.  This  is  proved 
by  the  Concordat.  But  at  the  same  time  he  wished 
to  employ  it  as  a  social  force  with  which  to  repress 
anarchy,  to  consolidate  his  preponderance  in  Europe, 
and  finally  to  increase  the  glory  of  France  and  the 
influence  of  the  French  capital.  The  Emperor  used 
to  say  to  the  Bishop  of  Nantes,  who  pointed  out  to 
him  how  useful  and  how  important  for  the  unity  of 
the  faith  was  the  visible  head  of  the  Church :  "  Mas- 
ter Bishop,  be  without  anxiety.  The  policy  of  my 
States  is  closely  bound  up  with  the  preservation  and 
maintenance  of  the  Pope's  spiritual  power.  It  is  nec- 
essary to  me  that  he  should  be  more  powerful  than 


720 


MEMOIRS    OF 


ever.    He  will  never  have  as  much  power  as  my  policy 
prompts  me  to  desire  for  him." 

The  strict  order  which  Napoleon  had  introduced 
into  the  management  of  the  finances  of  the  State,  and 
of  the  civil  list,  had  enabled  him  to  amass  a  treasure, 
the  fruit  of  his  economy,  not  unproductive  indeed,  as 
has  been  thought,  and  moreover  to  have  at  his  disposal 
private  resources,  such  as  the  revenues  of  the  extraor- 
dinary domain,  which  placed  it  in  his  power  to  assist 
banking  and  commercial  houses  with  loans  or  ad- 
vances. These  resources  also  enabled  him  to  assist 
families  in  which  he  took  an  interest,  and  who  were 
obliged  by  fortuitous  circumstances,  to  appeal  to  his 
generosity.  The  lottery  prizes  which  were  not 
claimed  by  the  holders  of  the  winning  tickets,  the 
funds  which  were  derived  from  farming  out  the  right 
of  working  public  gaming  tables  placed  at  his  dis- 
posal further  resources  which  he  used  with  prudence 
and  discernment. 

He  encouraged  manufacturers,  artists,  and  workmen 
with  orders,  and  spent  millions  of  francs  in  this  way. 
Napoleon  had  conceived  various  plans  with  the  object 
of  encouraging  merchants  and  manufacturers.  He 
had  thought  of  establishing  in  the  large  manufactur- 
ing centres  branch  offices  of  the  bank,  to  discount 
merchants'  paper  at  four  per  cent.  He  had  also  a 
scheme  for  creating  pawnshops  where  money  should 
be  advanced  on  goods.  These  plans  were  abandoned 
on  the  advice  of  the  Minister  of  the  Treasury  and  the 
directors  of  the  bank,  and  he  Hmited  himself  to  mak- 
ing advances  to  merchants  of  well-known  solvency. 
I  am  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  financial  matters 
to  speak  pertinently  on  Napoleon's  financial  system. 
I  leave  it  to  his  skilful  ministers  to  expound  its 
mechanism,  and  to  point  out  what  were  its  advantages 
and  disadvantages.     I  will  limit  myself  to  say  that 


NAPOLEON    I.  721 

without  seeking  to  appreciate  the  difference  between 
the  times  and  situations  that  Napoleon  had  the  same 
views  on  borrowing  as  Colbert ;  but  also,  there  was  no 
deficit.  The  ordinary  taxes  and  the  war  indemnities 
sufficed  for  all  needs.  Napoleon  was  very  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  resources  which  could  be  derived 
from  public  credit,  but  it  seemed  to  him  that  the  time 
had  not  yet  come  for  France  to  found  her  financial 
system  on  borrowing.  "What  would  be  my  position," 
he  used  to  say,  "  towards  the  whole  of  Europe,  with  a 
Government  which  I  built  in  the  midst  of  ruins,  whose 
foundations  are  not  yet  well-established,  and  the 
forms  of  which  I  am  constantly  obliged  to  adapt  to 
new  circumstances  which  proceed  from  the  variations 
of  foreign  politics,  if  I  were  to  subject  some  of  these 
combinations  to  absolute  methods  which  do  not  admit 
of  modification,  and  which  are  efficacious  only  because 
they  are  absolute?" 

At  the  same  time  the  Emperor  would  have  lacked 
neither  credit  nor  lenders  if  necessity  had  forced  him 
to  have  recourse  to  loans.  But  he  feared  the  abuse 
which  might  be  made  of  this  kind  of  resource  and 
the  abyss  which  he  might  thereby  dig  beneath  his  feet. 
He  did  not  wish  to  open  new  fields  to  stock- 
jobbing, nor  did  he  wish  to  expose  himself  to  have  to 
submit  to  ruinous  usurious  conditions.  It  seemed  to 
him  that  the  institution  of  a  sinking  fund  would  be- 
come a  delusion  if.  whilst  reducing  the  debt  with  one 
hand  he  were  to  borrow  with  the  other ;  and  finally 
he  did  not  approve  that  posterity  should  be  burdened 
for  an  indefinite  time  for  the  benefit  of  the  present 
generation.  Instead  of  being  tempted  by  the  example 
of  England,  the  enormous  increase  of  the  British  na- 
tional debt  scared  him.  Napoleon  had  other  ideas  on 
the  effects  of  public  credit  than  those  which  prevail 
to-day. 


722  MEMOIRS    OF 

What  proves  that  on  the  whole  the  financial  system 
of  the  Emperor  was  not  altogether  defective,  and 
what  spirit  of  order  and  economy  presided  over  the 
administration  of  finance,  is  that  in  spite  of  the  wars 
which  were  being  continually  carried  on,  fed  it  is 
true  by  the  indemnities  levied  on  the  enemy;  in  spite 
of  efforts  which  seemed  beyond  our  strength ;  in  spite 
of  unheard-of  disasters  and  losses,  Napoleon  was  able 
to  do  such  great  things,  and  in  spite  of  all  to  leave  the 
finances  of  France,  which  he  had  found  in  a  state  of 
complete  ruin,  in  a  more  prosperous  position  than  the 
finances  of  the  other  European  States. 

The  question  of  finances  leads  me  to  speak  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  state  budget  was  regulated  under 
the  Emperor.  Each  year  Napoleon,  in  a  financial 
council,  to  which  all  the  ministers  were  summoned, 
used  to  fix  the  amount  of  the  credit  assigned  to  each 
of  them  according  to  his  wants,  and  at  the  same  time 
decided  how  much  was  to  be  spent  in  each  Govern- 
ment Department.  Each  month  the  Emperor  used  to 
assign  to  each  minister  the  sums  which  were  to  be 
spent,  and  which  the  public  treasury  would  supply  to 
this  minister.  During  the  month  these  sums  were 
entered  on  a  little  square  of  paper  ruled  in  columns,  the 
model  of  which  I  had  prepared  from  his  design.  I 
add  from  M.  Bresson's  "History  of  Finance"  the 
following  details,  which  are  very  exact: 

"  Thus  twelve  times  a  year,  in  one  hour's  work, 
the  Head  of  the  Government  passed  all  the  expenses 
in  review,  fixed  the  sum  which  each  should  use  during 
the  following  month,  and  maintained,  as  far  as  it  was 
possible  to  do  so,  a  balance  between  expenditure  and 
receipts ;  slackening  or  urging  on  payments,  increas- 
ing or  diminishing  the  funds  of  the  departmental 
treasuries  according  to  the  amount  of  sums  received, 


NAPOLEON    I.  723 

to  the  urgency  of  their  needs  and  the  changes  which 
current  events  might  bring  with  them.  The  minister 
of  the  treasury,  moreover,  was  not  allowed  to  pay  the 
ministers'  drafts  unless  the  minister  who  signed  the 
order  for  payment  had  conformed  himself  absolutely 
to  the  year's  budget,  and  to  the  monthly  sum  with 
which  he  was  credited." 

I  will  add  that  Napoleon  had  made  the  T^Iinister  of 
the  Treasury,  Comptroller  General  of  Expenditure 
and  kept  him  acquainted  with  the  movements  of  the 
army  and  other  orders  involving  expenditure  which 
he  had  given,  and  he  did  this  with  the  object  of  placing 
the  minister  in  a  position  to  exercise  this  control  in 
an  efficacious  manner. 

"Never  had  the  tax-collecting  department  been  seen 
in  so  well-regulated  a  state,  nor  had  such  absolutely 
precise  book  keeping  ever  been  the  rule  in  the  French 
Financial  department  as  under  the  Empire.  True  it  is 
that  there  were  some  functionaries  of  the  state  who 
made  great  fortunes,  but  that  was  at  the  expense  of 
foreign  kings,  and  with  the  Emperor's  gifts.  It  had 
become  almost  impossible  to  rob  the  State.  The  ac- 
counts were  in  such  perfect  order  and  so  greatly  sim- 
plified that  Napoleon  could  see  by  the  lists  he  always 
had  in  his  possession  the  exact  condition  of  receipts 
and  expenditure,  of  arrears,  and  of  ordinary  and  ex- 
traordinary resources." 

The  Emperor  did  not  lose  sight  of  the  prosperity 
of  French  manufactures,  and  was  con.stantly  think- 
ing about  means  to  enfranchise  our  industries  from 
the  tribute  which  it  paid  to  the  foreigner.  The  war 
with  Englanrl  having  destroyed  our  maritime  trade, 
Napoleon  ajjplied  himself  to  giving  a  new  imjnilse  to 


724  MEMOIRS    OF 

native  trade,  and  to  our  commercial  relations  with  the 
allied  nations.  He  sought  out  in  the  resources  of  our 
country  such  things  as  we  could  no  longer  import 
from  England,  and  the  wherewithal  to  replace  the 
produce  of  our  colonies  which  English  supremacy  at 
sea  prevented  from  being  landed  in  our  ports,  and  an 
equivalent  for  which  had  to  be  found.  With  this  pur- 
pose in  view,  Napoleon  created  a  general  council  of 
manufactures  and  industries,  and  encouraged  the 
sciences  and  arts  of  manufacture,  with  honorary  and 
pecuniary  rewards.  He  stimulated  industries  to  find 
the  best  means  of  substituting  native  sugar  and  coffee 
for  colonial  sugar  and  coffee.  He  also  paid  a  good  deal 
of  attention  to  the  discovery  of  an  article  which  could 
be  used  as  a  substitute  for  indigo ;  and  finally  the  Em- 
peror offered  a  prize  of  one  million  francs  as  a  reward 
for  the  inventor  of  the  best  machine  for  spinning  flax, 
the  advantage  of  which  would  have  been  to  diminish 
the  price  of  linen,  which  could  then  be  used  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  cotton.  This  prize  of  one  million  was  to 
be  awarded  by  the  terms  of  the  decree  which  was  is- 
sued on  May  12th,  18 10,  to  the  inventor  of  the  said 
machine,  no  matter  what  his  nationality  might  be. 
This  decree  was  translated  into  all  languages,  and  was 
sent  to  our  ambassadors  and  consuls  at  the  various 
posts  which  they  occupied,  to  be  made  public  by  them. 
Napoleon  forbade  the  use  of  cotton  or  of  foreign 
wood  for  the  furniture  of  the  Imperial  Palaces;  he 
desired  that  the  people  who  were  invited  to  the  draw- 
ing-rooms at  court  should  dress  only  in  silk,  so  as  to 
encourage  the  Lyons  manufactories.  He  declared 
war  on  Indian  cashmeres,  but  his  power  was  impotent 
against  the  tyranny  of  fashion,  and  against  routine. 
The  Emperor  threatened  the  Empress  in  vain  that  he 
would  throw  her  cashmere  shawls  into  the  fire.  The 
Empress  used  to  answer  him  that  as  soon  as  they 


NAPOLEON    I.  725 

could  give  her  stuffs  as  light  and  as  warm  as  the 
cashmere  woollens  she  would  be  very  glad  to  wear 
them.  The  Emperor  encouraged  the  manufacturers 
of  French  shawls,  and  commissioned  Isabey  to  make 
the  designs  of  a  magnificent  woollen  stuff  like  cash- 
mere, on  a  white  ground,  with  which  a  shawl  and  a 
dress  were  made.  Marie  Louise  wore  them  with  some 
reluctance;  these  stuffs  had  not  the  softness  which 
they  have  since  acquired.  The  Empress  used  to  com- 
plain with  reason  that  her  dress  "griped  '  whenever 
she  went  near  the  fire. 

The  rest  of  the  year  1810  was  spent  alternately  at 
St.  Cloud,  Rambouillet,  Trianon,  Paris,  and  Fon- 
tainebleau.  The  Court  was  most  brilliant  at  Rambouil- 
let. There  were  great  hunts,  theatrical  performances, 
concerts  and  frequent  drawling-rooms.  The  Em- 
press's pregnancy  was  declared,  and  announced  to 
the  Senate  by  a  message  towards  the  end  of  No- 
vember. This  event,  which  crowned  the  Emperor's 
desires  and  the  nation's  hopes,  excited  universal  in- 
terest. The  bishops  ordained  prayers  and  called  down 
the  blessings  of  Heaven  on  this  happy  promise  of  ma- 
ternity. M.  de  Mesgrigny,  one  of  the  Emperor's 
equerries,  proceeded  to  Vienna  with  a  letter  for  the 
Emperor  of  Austria,  in  which  the  news  of  his  daugh- 
ter's pregnancy,  then  five  months  advanced,  was  an- 
nounced to  him.  M.  de  Mesgrigny  returned  on  No- 
vember 13th  with  the  replies  of  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  of  Austria,  full  of  their  congratulations. 
On  the  occasion  of  the  announcement  of  the  Em- 
press's pregnancy  there  was  a  theatrical  performance 
at  the  Court,  and  a  drawing-room  was  held  in  the 
grand  apartments. 

On  December  2nd,  the  aninversary  of  the  corona- 
tion and  of  the  battle  of  Austerlitz,  the  Emperor  gave 
an  audience  to  the  Senate,  which  came  to  thank  him 


726  MEMOIRS    OF 

for  the  communication  of  the  news  of  the  Empress's 
pregnancy,  and  to  offer  its  congratulations  on  the 
happy  event.  There  were  theatrical  performances, 
illuminations,  mass,  and  a  Te  Denni  in  the  Tuileries 
chapel.  Twelve  young  women,  dowered  by  the  Em- 
press, were  led  to  the  altar  by  the  mayors  in  the  metro- 
politan church,  large  sums  of  money  were  distributed 
in  charity,  and,  in  one  word,  the  greatest  solemnity 
accompanied  the  announcement  of  an  event  which  was 
of  national  importance. 

One  circumstance,  of  little  importance  in  itself,  but 
which  nevertheless  attracted  attention  at  the  time,  was 
the  admission  of  Madame  de  Mailly,  the  widow  of 
the  marshal  of  that  name,  to  enjoy  the  rank  and  the 
privileges  of  the  wives  of  the  great  officers  of  the 
crown,  and  the  authorization  which  she  received  to 
resume  her  title  of  Marcchalc.  In  consequence,  a  note 
of  invitation  was  addressed  to  Madame  de  Mailly,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  solemnity  of  January  ist  follow- 
ing, and  she  came  to  take  possession  of  the  rank 
awarded  to  her.  About  the  same  time  the  Minister  of 
the  Interior  introduced  a  deputation  from  the  Lyons 
traders  to  the  Empress.  The  deputation  presented 
her  with  a  magnificent  dress  of  Lyons  manufacture, 
which  the  Empress  wore  on  New  Year's  Day. 

As  soon  as  the  Empress's  pregnancy  had  been  made 
public  the  Emperor  created  a  society  of  maternal 
charity,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  assist  poor  women 
in  childbirth,  and  to  provide  for  their  needs  and  the 
rearing  of  their  children.  Napoleon  named  the  Em- 
press patroness  of  this  society,  the  vice-presidentesses, 
being  Madame  de  Segur,  the  wife  of  the  grand  master 
of  ceremonies,  and  Madame  Pastoret.  This  society 
was  composed  of  one  thousand  ladies  designated  by 
the  Empress,  of  fifteen  lady  dignitaries,  of  a  grand 


NAPOLEON    I.  yi7 

council  which  had  its  seat  in  Paris,  and  of  councils 
of  administration  in  the  departments,  and  finally  of  a 
secretary-general  who  was  the  grand  almoner,  and  of 
a  treasurer-general.  Besides  the  motives  of  charity 
which  prompted  the  Emperor  to  found  this  association 
he  was  anxious  to  put  the  Empress  forward,  and  to 
win  public  sympathy  to  her  side.  The  fund  of  the 
society  was  an  income  of  five  hundred  thousand  francs, 
invested  in  government  stock,  drawn  from  the  extraor- 
dinary domain,  and  from  voluntary  subscriptions,  the 
number  of  which  exceeded  that  fixed  upon. 

The  Emperor  appointed  a  governess  to  the  children 
of  Erance  and  selected  the  Countess  de  IMontesquiou, 
the  wife  of  the  Grand  Chamberlain;  a  choice  which 
was  unanimously  approved  of.  Born  in  a  lofty  rank, 
Madame  de  Montesquiou  enjoyed  a  reputation  which 
she  had  worthily  w'on.  She  was  forty-six  years  old, 
and  a  woman  of  untarnished  reputation.  Pious,  her 
devotion  was  free  from  bigotry.  She  had  great  sim- 
plicity of  manners,  a  firm  character,  and  solid  prin- 
ciples. She  united  all  the  qualities  which  were  desir- 
able for  the  proper  fulfilment  of  the  important  duties 
which  the  Emperor,  acting  on  his  own  inspiration, 
had  confided  to  her. 

The  Empress's  pregnancy  advanced  favourably. 
Her  condition  was  betrayed  by  fre(|uent  temporary 
indispositions,  which  delighted  Napoleon.  He  sur- 
rounded Marie  Louise  with  tokens  of  his  solicitude, 
held  her  up  in  his  arms,  and  encouraged  her  with  the 
kindest  attentions.  I  was  often  present  at  these  fam- 
ily scenes,  in  which  Napoleon's  loving  nature  showed 
it.self.  Only  those  who  did  not  know  him  can  have 
accused  him  of  want  of  feeling.  When  the  weather 
was  fine,  the  Empress  used  to  walk  on  the  Tuilerics 
terrace,  which  skirts  the  river.  This  terrace  had  been 
shut  off  with  breast-high  railings,  anrl  it  was  reached 


728  MEMOIRS    OF 

by  means  of  a  staircase  ascending  from  the  ground 
floor  of  the  palace.  Later  on  a  pretty  cottage  was 
built  at  the  end  of  this  terrace,  where  the  King  of 
Rome  used  to  spend  the  fine  spring  days  when  the 
Court  was  in  residence  at  the  Tuileries. 

At  last  arrived  the  moment  when  the  Empress  was 
to  be  delivered,  a  moment  waited  for  with  such  keen 
impatience  by  Napoleon,  impatience  shared,  it  may  be 
said  in  all  truth,  by  the  whole  of  France.  One  hun- 
dred and  one  cannon  shots  announced,  on  the  morning 
of  March  20th,  that  the  King  of  Rome  was  born. 
The  birth  of  a  prince  was  to  be  saluted  with  one  hun- 
dred and  one  cannon-shots,  only  twenty-one  were  to 
be  fired  if  the  child  were  a  princess.  One  can  hardly 
imagine  with  what  anxiety  the  first  cannon-shots  were 
counted.  Deep  silence  prevailed  until  the  twenty-first. 
But  when  the  twenty-second  boomed  forth  an  ex- 
plosion of  applause  and  of  cheering  burst  out  which 
was  re-echoed  simultaneously  from  every  corner  of 
Paris.  The  public  enthusiasm  was  general,  and  no 
contemporary  will  deny  this.  The  bearing  of  the 
child,  however,  on  whom  such  great  hopes  were  fixed, 
was  to  be  a  very  laborious  one. 

"  Tanta  molis  erat  Romanam  condere  gentem!  " 

The  first  pains  had  been  felt  on  the  evening  before 
— March  19th,  181 1.  They  were  endurable  until  day- 
break, when  they  ceased  altogether,  and  Marie  Louise 
was  able  to  get  to  sleep.  Napoleon  had  spent  the 
first  part  of  the  night  by  her  bedside;  then,  seeing 
that  she  had  gone  to  sleep,  he  went  up  to  his  rooms 
and  took  a  bath.  The  members  of  the  Imperial  family, 
the  grand  dignitaries,  the  principal  officers  and  ladies 
of  the  Court  had  been  summoned  to  the  palace  as 
soon  as  the  first  pains  had  been  felt.     But,  towards 


NAPOLEON    I.  7;2q 

five  o'clock  in  the  morning-,  the  accouclieur,  'SI.  Du- 
bois, being  of  opinion  that  the  birth  could  not  take 
place  for  another  twenty-four  hours,  everybody  had 
been  sent  away  by  the  Emperor.  Mesdames  de  Monte- 
bello.  Montesquiou  and  Lu(:ay  had  remained  alone 
with  the  doctor,  the  nurse,  the  domes  d'annoncc,  and 
the  chambemiaids.  An  hour  after  Napoleon  had  re- 
turned to  his  apartments,  the  Empress  woke  up  in  such 
pain  that  a  speedy  deliver}'^  was  expected.  Doctor 
Dubois,  however,  saw  that  the  birth  would  be  a  very 
difficult  one,  and  that  this  was  one  of  the  least  fre- 
quent and  most  dangerous  cases.  The  Emperor  was 
in  a  state  of  perfect  serenity,  when  M.  Dubois  sud- 
denly opened  the  door  and,  in  a  great  state  of  dismay, 
announced  that  the  first  stages  of  the  accouchement 
were  giving  him  the  greatest  anxiety.  Without  wait- 
ing to  listen  to  the  explanations  which  the  doctor 
began  to  give,  Napoleon  cried  out,  from  the  bottom  of 
his  heart :  "  Above  all  save  the  mother."  Then  spring- 
ing from  his  bath  he  hastily  wrapped  himself  in  a 
dressing-gown  and  ran  downstairs  to  the  Empress's 
room,  followed  by  Dubois.  He  approached  the  bed 
and  hiding  his  anxiety  embraced  her  tenderly,  and 
encouraged  her  with  words  of  comfort.  The  presence 
of  the  Emperor,  the  calm  which  in  appearance  reigned 
upon  his  face,  though  in  his  heart  he  was  a  prey  to 
mortal  anxiety,  gave  courage  to  Dubois.  The  latter 
had  asked  that  some  leading  physicians  should  be 
called  in  for  a  consultation.  The  Emperor  had.  re- 
fused, telling  the  doctor  that  he  had  cho.scn  him 
because  he  trusted  him,  and  that  the  Empress  was  to 
be  treated  just  as  if  she  were  the  wife  of  any  ordinary 
man.  Dubois  commenced  the  painful  operation  with 
the  skill  anrl  the  sang-froid  which  he  happily  pos- 
sessed. The  labour  did  not  proceed,  the  child  pre- 
sented itself  legs  foremost.    The  pains  of  the  Empress 


730  MEMOIRS    OF 

increased  in  intensity.     She  was  struck  with  terror, 
and  cried  out  that  they  meant  to  sacrifice  her.    Dubois 
saw  himself  forced  to  use  the  forceps  to  free  the  child's 
head.     Napoleon,  a  prey  to  silent  agitation,  watched 
this  painful  scene,  encouraging  all  present  by  his  brave 
attitude.    At  last,  after  many  efforts,  and  in  the  midst 
of  so  much  anguish,  the  so-impatiently-desired  child 
came  to  light.     It  was  a  son,  pale,  motionless,  and  to 
all  appearances  lifeless.     In  spite  of  all  the  measures 
taken  in  such  cases,  the  child  remained  seven  minutes 
without  giving  any  signs  of  life.    The  Emperor  stand- 
ing in  front  of  him  was  following  in  silence  and  with 
an  air  of  profound  attention,  every  movement  of  the 
accoucheur,  when  at  last  he  saw  the  child's  breast  rise, 
the  mouth  open  and  a  breath  exhaled.     He  feared  lest 
it  might  be  the  first  and  last,  but  a  cry  escaping  from 
the  child's  lungs  tells  him  that  his  son  has  taken  pos- 
session of  life.    All  anxiety  then  ceases.     In  the  effu- 
sion of  his  joy  Napoleon  bent  over  the  child,  seized  it 
in  his  arms,  with  a  spontaneous  movement,  carried  it 
to   the  door  of  the  drawing-room   in  which  all  the 
grandees  of  his  Empire  were  assembled  and  present- 
ing it  to  them  said :  "  Here  is  the  King  of  Rome."    He 
then  returned,  and  placed  the  child  back  in  M.  Du- 
bois's hands  saying :  "  I  give  you  back  your  child." 
Archchancellor  Cambaceres  and   Berthier,   Prince  of 
Neufchatel,  were  present  in  the  Empress's  bedroom,  as 
witnesses  of  the  accouchement.     The  Emperor,  after 
he  had  received  the  congratulations  of  those  present, 
insisted  on  going  in  person  to  announce  the  news  of 
the  birth  of  his  son  to  the  whole  household.     He  was 
still  under  the  influence  of  the  painful  sight  of  the 
Empress's  delivery,  and  said  that  he  would  have  pre- 
ferred being  present  at  a  battle.     The  news  of  this 
happy  event  had  spread  over  Paris  as  by  magic.    When 
the  big  bell  of  Notre  Dame,  and  the  cannon  made  it 


NAPOLEON  I.  731 

public,  a  large  crowd  had  already  assembled  in  the 
garden  under  the  windows  of  the  palace.  To  restrain 
the  crowd,  and  to  prevent  it  from  disturbing  the  repose 
of  the  august  patient,  a  cord  had  been  stretched  along 
the  whole  length  of  this  terrace,  (which  since  then  has 
been  turned  into  a  parterre  by  King  Louis  Philippe) 
from  the  railing  at  tiie  Pont  Royal  to  the  Pavilion  de 
I'Horloge.  This  feeble  barrier  impressed  the  crowd 
more  than  a  wall  would  have  done.  The  spectators, 
whose  number  increased  every  minute,  even  kept  them- 
selves at  a  respectful  distance  from  the  cord.  General 
silence,  a  proof  of  popular  sympathy  and  interest,  was 
observed.  From  the  interior  of  his  apartments,  Napo- 
leon contemplated  with  visible  emotion,  this  sight,  so 
pleasant  for  him. 

The  officers  of  the  imperial  household,  pages,  and 
couriers  were  despatched  with  letters  and  messages  for 
the  great  corporations  of  the  state,  for  the  "good  cities" 
and  for  the  l'>ench  and  foreign  ambassadors  and 
ministers.  The  pages,  sent  to  the  municipal  corpora- 
tions received  great  marks  of  favour  at  their  hands. 
The  Paris  and  Turin  municipal  councils  voted  pensions 
to  the  bearers  of  the  happy  news.  The  good  Empress 
Josephine  was  not  forgotten.  Napoleon  sent  a  page 
to  her  in  Navarre,  and  he  answered  the  letter  which 
this  page  brought  back  to  him,  with  his  usual  brevity 
but  with  the  affectionate  cordiality  which  he  always 
preserved  for  his  first  wife. 

On  the  same  evening  the  new-born  child  was  bap- 
tized in  the  Tuileries  chapel  by  the  Cardinal  Grand 
Almoner,  with  all  the  ceremonies  in  use  at  the  old 
court  of  France. 

On  the  morrow  the  Emperor,  seated  on  the  throne, 
received  the  congratulations  of  the  court,  the  senate, 
the  Icgislatixe  Ixjdy  and  other  corporations  of  the  state, 
the  leading  authorities  and  the  diplomatic  corps.     On 


732  MEMOIRS    OF 

leaving  this  solemn  audience  a  visit  was  paid  to  the 
King  of  Rome  who  was  lying  in  the  magnificent 
silver-gilt  cradle  which,  on  the  previous  5th  of  March, 
had  been  presented  to  the  Emperor  in  the  name  of  the 
city  of  Paris,  by  Comte  Frochot,  Prefect  of  the  Seine, 
accompanied  by  the  municipal  council. 

The  Grand  Chancellor  of  the  Legion  of  Honour, 
and  the  Grand  Chancellor  of  the  order  of  the  Iron 
Crown,  laid  the  grand  cordons  of  their  orders  on  the 
cradle.  Some  days  later.  Prince  Schwarzenberg, 
the  Austrian  ambassador,  presented  the  decoration  of 
the  order  of  St.  Stephen. 

The  forms  used  on  this  occasion,  borrowed  as  they 
were  from  the  ancient  customs  of  the  monarchy,  have 
appeared  to  some  severe  critics  as  servile  and  frivolous 
acts.  They  were,  however,  only  the  consequence  of 
the  establishment  of  the  Empire.  The  sage,  no  doubt, 
in  the  independence  of  his  solitude,  the  speculative 
philosopher,  the  austere  republican,  will  look  with  an 
eye  of  pity  on  this  empty  ceremonial,  and  will  see  in 
it  nothing  but  the  practices  of  flattery;  but  it  is  not 
with  abstract  ideas  that  the  exigencies  of  a  crown  must 
be  considered.  There  are  usages  and  conventions 
consecrated  by  time,  which,  although  puerile  in  the 
eyes  of  those  who  ordain  them,  are  nevertheless,  in  a 
monarchy,  enjoined  by  the  hierarchy  of  functions,  by 
the  necessity  of  enforcing  habits  of  respect  and  def- 
erence towards  those  who  hold  the  power,  and  finally 
of  avoiding  that  familiarity  which  is  inherent  to  the 
national  character,  but  which  is  infinitely  harmful  to 
the  prestige  which  should  be  preserved  by  the  sover- 
eign power.  It  would,  moreover,  have  been  unwise 
to  isolate  oneself  from  the  other  European  monarchies, 
and,  by  exhibiting  contempt  for  their  customs,  to  keep 
alive  a  state  of  distrust  which  was  already  in  existence, 
and  which  it  behooved  the  French  Government  to  calm. 


NAPOLEON    I.  733 

I  have  spoken  of  the  disadvantages  of  too  great 
faniiharity.  Alihtary  customs  indeed,  repubhcan  man- 
ners, and  the  confusion  of  ranks,  inspired  by  a  spirit 
of  equality,  had  everywhere  authorized  an  indepen- 
dence of  bearing  and  language  which  people  did  not 
seem  able  to  moderate,  even  towards  those  who  occu- 
pied the  highest  posts  in  the  State.  The  dignity  of  the 
rank  occupied  by  Napoleon  from  the  time  of  his  ac- 
cession to  the  Consulate,  and  the  respect  due  to  his 
authority,  did  not  allow  him  to  tolerate  this  excess  of 
familiarity.  I  was  still  present  at  the  games  of  base 
and  of  Blind-man's  Buff,  at  La  Malmaison,  in  which 
the  First  Consul  used  to  take  part.  He  had  to  give 
them  up  because  these  games  gave  rise  to  inadver- 
tencies which  could  be  excused  by  the  kind  of  camara- 
derie which  they  established,  but  the  abuse  of  which 
might  degenerate  into  licence  and  cast  ridicule  on  the 
person  of  the  Head  of  the  State.  The  following  anec- 
dote, which  will  support  this  theory,  can  do  no  harm 
to  the  respect  due  to  the  memory  of  the  illustrious 
Lannes.  One  day  the  First  Consul  had  ordered  some 
Arab  horses,  which  had  been  given  him,  to  be  brought 
into  the  courtyard  of  the  castle  at  La  Malmaison. 
Lannes  proposed  to  the  First  Consul  to  play  him  a 
match  at  billiards  for  one  of  these  horses.  Napoleon 
consented.  He  wanted  to  lose,  and  had  to  lose,  and 
his  adversary  won  the  match  with  great  ease.  "I  have 
beaten  thee.''  he  said  to  the  First  Consul  whom  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  addressing  in  the  second  person 
singular,  "and  so  I  have  the  right  to  choose."  And 
without  waiting  for  the  pemiission  which  he  did  not 
ask,  he  rims  up  and  examines  the  horses  one  after 
the  other,  and  choosing  the  handsomest,  has  it  saddled, 
and  jumping  into  the  saddle  says:  "Good-bye,  Bona- 
parte. I  sha'n't  dine  here.  Fm  off,  because  if  1  stayed 
thou   wouldst   be   capable   of   taking   thy    horse   back 


734  MEMOIRS    OF 

again."  The  First  Consul  had  no  time  to  answer. 
Lannes  was  already  out  of  sight.  To  prevent  a  repe- 
tition of  such  scenes,  Napoleon  thought  it  right  to  re- 
move Lannes  for  some  time,  but  to  show  him  that  his 
friendship  for  him  was  still  the  same,  he  appointed 
him.  to  an  honourable  post,  namely  that  of  French  am- 
bassador to  Lisbon. 

General  Dutaillis,  whilst  still  a  simple  officer,  used 
to  address  Berthier,  who  afterwards  became  Prince 
of  Wagram  and  of  Neufchatel,  in  the  second  person 
singular.  The  First  Consul  put  a  stop  to  this  famili- 
arity, at  least  in  public. 

If  Napoleon,  recognizing  the  disadvantages  of  fa- 
miliarity, had  been  obliged  to  forbid  it,  he  was  none 
the  less  good  and  indulgent  in  his  usual  intercourse. 
He  was  chary  of  praise,  from  principle,  but  his  satis- 
faction manifested  itself  in  more  affectionate  ways, 
and  by  rewards  which  had  sometimes  to  be  waited  for, 
but  which  always  came  at  the  right  moment.  There 
are  few  persons  who,  by  reason  of  their  offices,  or 
through  particular  circumstances,  approached  his  per- 
son who  have  not  some  instance  of  his  kindness  to  re- 
late. It  would  take  too  long  to  quote  all  the  stories 
that  might  be  cited  in  support  of  this  statement.  An- 
other anecdote,  however,  which  I  will  relate  will  prove 
that  Napoleon  always  endeavoured  to  make  amends 
for  the  pain  he  might  have  caused  by  the  sharpness 
of  his  reproaches.  During  one  of  the  last  campaigns 
made  by  the  Emperor  in  person,  Gudin,  a  son  of  the 
regretted  general  who  was  killed  at  Valoutina,  in 
Russia,  was  with  him  as  page  in  attendance.  This 
page,  seeing  the  Emperor  getting  on  horseback  in  the 
absence  of  the  equerry  on  service,  wanted  to  help  him. 
In  his  eagerness,  the  young  man  did  it  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  Emperor  hurt  himself  as  he  fell  into 
the  saddle  and  cried  out  involuntarily.     Epithets  of 


NAPOLEON    I.  735 

"clumsy  fellow,"  "lout,"  and  so  on,  poured  forth  on 
the  poor  page,  who  slunk  off  in  consternation  at  his 
clumsiness.  The  Emperor,  having  recovered  from  his 
accident,  set  off  at  a  gallop,  followed  by  his  escort. 
Having  reached  the  place  where  he  wanted  to  stop, 
and  having  spent  some  minutes  in  examining  the 
country,  he  looked  round  and  saw  the  doleful  face  of 
the  page.  Napoleon  motioned  to  him  to  approach.  The 
Emperor  told  young  Gudin  that  he  was  obliged  to  him 
for  his  attention,  and  his  assistance.  "  But,"  he  added, 
"  you  should  set  about  it  differently.  When  you  want 
to  help  a  man  on  to  horseback,  you  shouldn't  offer  him 
your  left  arm,  but  should  support  him  with  your  right 
arm  until  he  is  in  the  saddle.  Go,  my  lad,  and  remem- 
ber that."  So  saying  Napoleon  gave  him  a  lit- 
tle pat  on  his  cheek  which  was  a  sign  of  goodwill 
on  his  part,  and  sent  the  page  away  comforted  and 
grateful. 

I  also  wish  to  relate  another  occurrence,  which 
chronologically  is  not  in  its  place,  but  which  can  be 
told  here  in  illustration  of  what  I  have  said.  I  cannot 
omit  it,  because  it  merits  being  told  just  as  it  occurred, 
seeing  that  either  with  a  bad  intention,  or  perhaps 
without  any  such  intention,  it  has  been  misstated.  One 
day.  whilst  Napoleon  was  crossing  the  blue  drawing- 
room  at  Saint  Cloud,  he  found  a  woman  there  who 
was  remarkably  stout,  and  who  waddled  up  to  him  as 
fast  as  her  obesity  would  allow  of,  muttering  some 
words,  which,  owing  to  the  emotion  she  was  experi- 
encing at  seeing  the  Emperor,  were  totally  unintel- 
ligible. Napoleon,  having  asked  her  for  her  name, 
learned  that  she  was  Mademoiselle  Despaux.  a  mil- 
liiK-r,  who,  in  spite  of  her  marriage  with  Monsieur 
Ilix,  had  kept  the  name  by  which  she  was  known  in 
business.  The  Emperor  was  very  angry  that,  in  spite 
of  his  formal  and  often  repeated  orders  that  no  trades- 


-JZe  MEMOIRS    OF 

men,  coming  to  work  upon  the  Empress  Josephine's 
easy-going  nature,  were  to  be  admitted  into  the  palace, 
a  miUiner  should  have  dared  to  enter  the  apartments 
of  the  palace  and  present  herself  before  him.  He  ac- 
cordingly at  once  sent  for  the  officer  of  the  guard, 
and  sharply  ordered  him  to  put  her  out.  This  officer 
transmits  the  order  to  two  gendarmes  who  were  on 
duty  and  these  led  the  woman  on  foot  to  the  bottom  of 
the  slope  which  leads  from  the  bridge  of  St.  Cloud  to 
the  palace.  Poor  Madame  Despaux,  who  was  so  fat 
that  she  could  hardly  walk,  on  arriving  at  the  bottom 
of  the  slope  asked  to  be  allowed  to  get  into  her  car- 
riage, which  was  waiting  for  her,  because  she  was  tired 
out;  but  this  was  refused.  On  arriving  on  the  road  to 
Paris  she  asked  where  she  was  being  taken  to.  The 
answer  was :  *'  A  la  Force."  The  officer,  seeing  the 
Emperor's  excitement,  had  imagined  that  this  was  the 
severe  order  which  had  been  given.  Napoleon  had 
ordered  that  Madame  Despaux  should  be  put  to  the 
door.  The  officer  thought  he  had  said  to  La  Force. 
At  the  idea  of  prison  Madame  Despaux  fell  into  a 
violent  fit  of  hysterics.  Her  husband,  who  ac- 
companied her,  was  in  a  state  of  great  distress  about 
his  wife's  position,  when  a  saviour  appeared  in  the 
form  of  a  man  who  ran  up  and  told  the  gendarmes  to 
set  her  free.  General  Duroc  hearing  with  what 
severity  Madame  Despaux  had  been  treated,  had  told  it 
to  the  Emperor,  who,  indignant  that  his  orders  should 
have  been  misunderstood,  charged  the  marshal  to  have 
the  woman  set  free  at  once,  and  expressed  his  regret 
at  the  mistake,  or  the  excess  of  zeal,  which  had  been 
committed  in  his  name.  One  can  now  judge  how  mis- 
taken are  those  who  said  that  Napoleon  had  had  this 
woman  locked  up  at  Bicetre,  where,  according  to  the 
story,  she  expiated  with  a  week's  imprisonment 
the  crime  she  had  committed  in  presenting  herself  at 


NAPOLEON    I.  717 

the  palace,  and  in  disobeying  the  order  which  the  sover- 
eign had  imposed. 

The  stage  and  the  poets  vied  with  each  other  in 
assiduity  in  celebrating  the  birth  of  the  King  of  Rome. 
The  publishers  started  a  competition  on  this  occa- 
sion— a  competition  of  homages,  in  which  the  most 
famous  poets  took  part.  It  w'ould  take  too  long  a 
time  to  give  all  their  names,  but  I  will  simply  mention 
two  young  poets  who  gave  a  foretaste  of  their  talents 
on  this  occasion,  and  showed  signs  of  the  celebrity 
which  their  works  have  since  then  acquired.  Casimir 
Delavigne,  who  had  only  just  left  school,  composed 
a  dithyrambic  poem  in  honour  of  the  birth  of  the 
Emperor's  heir.  This  ode,  which  w^as  full  of  merit  of 
the  first  order,  awakened  hopes  for  the  young  author 
which  were  fully  realized  in  the  future.  The  poem 
was  brought  to  me  by  the  good  and  obliging  Guillard, 
author  of  Gidipe  a  Colonc,  a  tragedy  wdiich  has  not 
been  surpassed  in  our  days  in  its  class.  This  author, 
who  formerly  had  received  my  first  clumsy  attempts 
at  poetry  with  perfect  and  indulgent  good  grace,  had 
remained  one  of  my  friends.  I  laid  Casimir  Dela- 
vigne's  ode  before  the  Emperor  whose  penetration  ex- 
celled in  distinguishing  true  merit  in  all  its  varities. 
Napoleon  judged  this  piece  very  much  more  favourably 
and  rightly  than  the  arbitrators  in  the  competition  had 
done,  in  which  this  ode  only  gained  one  of  the  last 
prizes.  The  Emperor  admired  the  young  author's 
talent,  and  gave  orders  that  a  special  present  should  be 
given  to  him  by  way  of  encouragement. 

Peter  Lebrun,  who  has  become  a  peer  of  France, 
and  a  director  of  the  Royal  Printing  House,  also  paid 
on  this  occasion  a  tribute  of  homage  and  gratitude  to 
Napoleon.  The  Emperor  had  noticed  this  young  man 
during  one  of  the  visits  which  he  was  fond  of  making 
to  the  principal  public  schools.     When  Lebrun's  ode 


738  MEMOIRS    OF 

on  the  Battle  of  Jena  was  presented  to  him,  Napoleon 
was  so  pleased  that  he  awarded  the  author  a  pension 
of  1 200  francs  a  year,  which  the  latter  retained.  The 
poet's  gratitude  inspired  him,  in  1822,  with  a  touching 
lyrical  poem  on  the  Emperor's  death. 

The  feelings  of  devotion  which  Madame  de  Genlis 
affected  for  Napoleon  and  his  family  prevented  her 
from  being  silent  in  the  face  of  the  great  event  of  the 
birth  of  the  heir  to  the  Empire,  an  event  which  gave 
her  an  opportunity  of  showing  the  variety  of  talents 
with  which  she  was  gifted.  She  accordingly  sent  the 
Emperor  a  child's  song,  the  music  and  words  of  which 
she  had  composed.  The  notes  of  this  lullaby  were 
represented  by  little  roses,  which  had  been  delicately 
drawn  and  illuminated  by  her  hand.  This  little  com- 
position altogether  was  carried  out  with  the  neatness 
and  elegance  which  Madame  de  Genlis  displayed  in 
her  manual  work. 

The  portraits  and  presentments  of  the  young  King 
were  multiplied  by  painting,  sculpture,  modelling,  en- 
graving, and  medal  carving.  Gerard  made  a  charm- 
ing half-length  portrait  of  him,  surrounded  by  the  at-^ 
tributes  of  babyhood.  Prudhon  painted  the  imperial 
child  asleep  in  a  shrubbery,  in  the  midst  of  a  group 
of  flowers,  amongst  which  the  "Imperial"  raised  itself, 
hanging  softly  over  his  forehead.  The  harmony  of  the 
composition,  the  delicacy  of  the  forms,  the  graceful 
abandonment  of  posture,  the  lifelike  sleep,  render  this 
picture  a  delicious  one. 

Public  rejoicings  of  every  kind,  a  general  illumina- 
tion, fetes  improvised  by  the  corporations,  were  the 
manifestations  of  public  happiness.  The  archbishops 
and  bishops  published  pastoral  letters;  all  the  Courts 
of  Europe,  with  which  we  were  at  peace,  sent  their 
congratulations  and  extraordinary  ambassadors  to  the 
Emperor.    Amongst  the  number  of  ambassadors  was 


NAPOLEON    I.  739 

Prince  Poniatowski,  who  was  sent  by  the  King  of 
Saxony,  as  Grand  Duke  of  Warsaw,  to  be  present  at 
the  ceremony  of  baptism.  Napoleon,  who  was  very 
fond  indeed  of  this  sovereign,  and  of  his  representa- 
tive, received  Poniatowski  with  distinction,  and  made 
him  a  present  of  £12,000  and  of  an  estate  in  Poland. 
The  Kings  of  Spain,  Naples,  and  Westphalia  had  come 
to  Paris  in  person. 

Doctor  Dubois,  who  had  delivered  the  Empress,  was 
magnificently  rewarded.  He  received  100,000  francs, 
and  the  title  of  Baron.  This  accouchement,  which 
had  necessitated  the  use  of  surgical  instruments,  iiad 
been  of  so  serious  a  character  that  the  doctor  had  con- 
sidered it  his  duty  to  tell  the  Emperor  that  a  second 
confinement  would  inevitably  put  the  Empress's  life  in 
danger.  This  revelation  made  an  impression  on  Napo- 
leon's mind,  and  had  consequences  which  could  not 
be  foreseen  at  the  time.  The  birth  of  other  children 
would  without  doubt  have  exercised  a  salutary  in- 
fluence on  the  Empress's  feelings,  and.  in  multiplying, 
the  bonds  which  united  the  two  spouses,  would  per- 
haps have  rendered  their  separation  more  difficult.  M. 
Dubois,  obeying  his  conviction,  had  acted  as  an  honest 
man ;  but  nature,  whose  power  is  greater  than  that  of 
science,  has  hidden  resources  of  which  science  has  no 
knowledge  and  in  this  case  undertook  to  refute  the 
clever  practitioner  eight  years  later. 

A  month  after  her  confinement  the  Empress  was 
churched  in  the  Tuileries  chapel.  The  ceremony  was 
I)erformed  with  a  certain  amount  of  solemnity,  and  on 
this  occasion  Marie  Louise  received  the  homage  of 
her  whole  court.  The  birth  of  an  heir  to  a  lofty  po- 
sition, which  had  been  created  by  so  many  efi'orts,  ap- 
peared destined  to  be  a  guarantee  of  longevity  for  the 
new  dynasty.  The  joy  which  was  manifested  by  all 
classes  of  society  was  principally  caused  by  the  hope, 

K — .Mi-nioiis  \oI    7 


740  MEMOIRS    OF 

everywhere  entertained,  of  seeing  this  child  become 
the  genius  of  peace,  and  close  at  last  the  gates  of  the 
temple  of  Janus.  The  Emperor  had  no  such  illusions. 
England  was  not  yet  discouraged.  Her  intrigues  and 
her  gold  continued  to  exercise  their  influence  over  the 
continental  powers,  and  the  future,  in  Napoleon's  eyes, 
was  full  of  storms. 

With  the  return  of  the  fine  weather  the  Emperor 
and  Empress  went  to  spend  a  week  at  Rambouillet, 
to  take  exercise  in  hunting.  Napoleon  was,  so  to 
speak,  en  famille  in  this  residence,  which  was  simpler 
and  lest  vast  than  the  other  imperial  mansions;  but 
he  was  not  able  to  prolong  his  stay  there,  because  he 
was  too  cramped. 

Joseph,  King  of  Spain,  came  to  see  the  Emperor 
here.  Napoleon  had  sent  him  General  Defrance,  one 
of  his  equerries,  to  announce  to  him  the  birth  of  his 
son,  and  to  inform  him  that  he  was  to  be  one  of  the 
child's  godfathers.  Joseph  took  this  opportunity  to 
have  an  interview,  which  he  deemed  indispensable,  with 
his  brother,  to  regulate  Spain's  present  interests,  and 
to  come  to  an  understanding  on  the  difficult  position 
which  the  inevitable  presence  of  an  auxiliary  army, 
the  leaders  of  which  treated  Spain  almost  like  a  con- 
quered country,  caused  him. 

Napoleon,  weary  with  the  enormous  sacrifice  of 
blood  and  treasure  which  the  occupation  of  the  Penin- 
sula caused  to  France,  had  instituted  military  govern- 
ments in  the  country,  at  the  head  of  which  French 
generals  had  been  placed.  King  Joseph  had  sent  MM. 
d'Azanza  and  Hervas  to  Paris  to  complain  about  this 
measure.  M.  Hervas  had  even  brought  with  him  a 
letter,  in  which  the  King  offered  the  Emperor  to  re- 
sign the  crown,  and  asked  him  for  his  authorization  to 
withdraw  from  the  country  where  he  was  able  neither 
to  do  good  nor  to  prevent  evil.    The  King  stated  that 


NAPOLEON    I.  741 

the  establishment  of  these  mihtary  governments  was 
looked  upon  by  the  Spaniards — even  those  who  were 
most  attached  to  his  person — as  an  attack  against  the 
integrity  of  the  Kingdom,  that  this  negation  of  his 
sovereignty  seemed  to  them  to  foretoken  the  future 
abolition  of  their  nationality,  and  lastly  that  this  dicta- 
torship, unless  it  was  to  be  a  temporary  one,  destroyed 
what  little  good  his  efforts  had  been  able  to  produce. 

King  Joseph,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  had  just  reduced 
Andalusia,  as  much  by  persuasion  as  by  force,  to  a 
state  of  submission.  He  had  declared  to  the  Spaniards 
in  this  province  his  firm  resolution  not  to  consent  to 
any  dismemberment  of  the  monarchy,  nor  to  any  sac- 
rifice which  was  likely  to  injure  the  national  inde- 
pendence. He  had  promised  that  if  the  English 
would  evacuate  Spanish  territory,  the  French  troops 
would  also  withdraw,  and  the  king  wnth  them,  if  the 
nation  should  not  adopt  him.  These  assurances  had 
calmed  the  excitement  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  pro- 
vince, and  Joseph  had  been  received  in  the  principal 
towns  of  Andelusia  with  a  favour  which  was  calculated 
to  deceive  him.  The  Emperor  persuaded  his  brother 
to  return  to  Spain  by  promising  him  that  the  institu- 
tion of  military  governments,  a  temporary  measure, 
which  had  only  been  demanded  by  circumstances, 
should  cease  as  soon  as  they  were  no  longer  necessary. 
He  confirmed  his  intention  of  withdrawing  the  French 
troops  if  the  English  Government,  to  which  negotia- 
tions were  to  be  proposed,  was  willing,  as  he  had  reason 
to  hope,  to  evacuate  Portugal,  and  to  recognize  Joseph, 
King  of  Spain,  as  soon  as  the  Spanish  nation  should 
have  consented  to  this;  and  if.  on  his  side,  he  replaced 
the  Braganza  family  on  the  throne.  Napoleon  had 
agreed  to  place  the  military  governments  under  the 
orders  of  the  King,  and  advised  him  to  call  the  Cortes 
together  as  soon  as  possible.     King  Joseph  returned 


742  NAPOLEON  I. 

to  Madrid  in  the  month  of  July  with  the  hope  that 
the  negotiations  with  England  would  be  successful, 
and  at  the  same  time  with  a  promise  that  the  integ- 
rity and  independence  of  the  Spanish  monarchy  should 
be  guaranteed.  On  his  return  to  Spain  he  was  received 
with  favour,  as  the  bearer  of  good  news  which  un- 
fortunately was  not  be  destined  to  be  realized. 


CHAPTER  XI 

ABOUT  two  months  after  the  birth  of  his  son,  the 
Empress  having  recovered  her  health,  the  Em- 
peror wished  to  go  and  visit  the  works  at  the 
harbour  of  Cherbourg,  so  as,  by  his  presence,  to  stimu- 
late this  important  undertaking.  The  importance  of 
this  harbour,  situated  opposite  to  England,  had  at- 
tracted all  Napoleon's  attention,  and  in  consequence, 
from  the  time  of  his  accession  to  power,  he  had  con- 
tinued the  works  there  which  Louis  XVI.  had  com- 
menced. The  abandonment  in  which  this  gigantic 
undertaking  had  been  left  during  the  crisis  of  the  Revo- 
lution had  entailed  its  almost  total  ruin.  During  the 
stay  of  the  Court  at  Rambouillet,  Marie  Louise  used 
to  be  present  at  the  hunts  in  her  open  carriage  and 
sometimes  on  horseback;  the  sovereigns  then  left  Ram- 
bouillet for  Caen,  where  they  stayed  three  days.  Napo- 
leon rode  over  the  surroundings  of  this  town,  accom- 
panied by  the  Minister  of  Marine  and  the  general  in- 
spectors of  roads  and  bridges.  The  journey  was 
continued  from  Caen  to  Cherbourg,  where,  on 
the  day  of  his  arrival,  the  Emperor,  according 
to  his  custom,  began  inspecting  from  daybreak  the 
fortifications  and  the  heights  which  commanded 
the  city.  He  visited  the  harbour,  the  dock-yards, 
the  roads,  and  the  fleet.  He  lunched  with  the 
Empress  on  the  dyke,  and  from  where  they  sat 
at  table  they  could  see  the  luiglish  ships  cruising  in 
the  distance.  Napoleon  ordered  the  fleet  to  perform 
their  evolutions,  and  took  the  Empress  on  board  the 

743 


744  MEMOIRS    OF 

Admiral's  ship,  which  she  examined  in  all  its  details — 
a  new  spectacle  for  her.  The  Emperor,  after  having 
inspected  the  fleet,  went  down  into  the  vast  basin, 
which  for  many  years  past  was  being  cut  out  of  the 
granite.  This  gigantic  work — a  masterpiece  of  pa- 
tience— was  approaching  completion.  The  basin, 
which  is  forty  feet  deep,  accommodates  fifty  line 
vessels.  It  was  worked  at  with  picks,  which  only  re- 
moved a  flake  of  stone  at  each  stroke.  It  resembled 
an  immense  trough,  cut  out  of  one  single  stone,  con- 
taining many  millions  of  cubic  feet  of  water. 

Having  left  Cherbourg,  the  Emperor  stopped  at 
Saint  Lo,  at  Alengon,  and  at  Chartres,  and  was  back 
again  at  St.  Cloud  on  June  4th.  This  little  journey, 
which  lasted  three  weeks,  was  the  rehearsal  of  a  longer 
journey  which  Napoleon  proposed  to  take  in  Holland, 
and  for  which  he  was  preparing  the  Empress.  The 
health  of  this  princess  had  been  shaken  by  a  most 
painful  confinement  but  she  was  now  completely  re- 
stored. 

Useful  measures  and  acts  of  benevolence — by  which 
the  cities,  which  their  Majesties  passed  through  prof- 
ited— as  well  as  alms-giving,  marked  their  passage 
everywhere.  Apart  from  the  grants  of  assistance, 
and  the  pensions  which  the  Emperor  awarded  on  the 
funds  of  the  Civil  List,  I  was  charged  to  keep  a  cash- 
box,  to  which  the  treasurer  of  the  crown  paid  the  sum 
of  lo.ocx)  francs  each  month.  This  fund  was  used 
in  connection  with  the  presents  or  charities  which  Na- 
poleon distributed,  and  which  I  paid  over  on  a  verbal 
order  transmitted  to  me  by  the  aide-de-camp  or  the 
equerry  in  attendance.  These  expenses  were  entered 
into  an  account  book,  which  the  Emperor  checked  at 
the  end  of  each  month. 

The  Emperor  and  the  Empress  were  everywhere 
received  with  enthusiasm.    The  birth  of  an  heir  to  the 


NAPOLEON    I.  745 

name  and  glory  of  Napoleon  had  increased  his  popu- 
larity to  the  highest  degree.  The  mother  of  the  King 
of  Rome  shared  in  these  manifestations  of  affection, 
and  knew  how  to  respond  to  them  by  the  amenity  of 
the  reception  which  she  accorded  to  the  authorities  and 
inhabitants  of  the  departments. 

Her  Majesty's  return  to  Paris  was  hastened  by  the 
approach  of  the  fetes  which  were  being  prepared  for 
them  at  Paris,  at  St.  Cloud,  and  at  Trianon,  during 
the  journey  to  Cherbourg.  These  festivities,  which 
accompanied  the  ceremony  of  the  King  of  Rome's 
christening,  were  in  point  of  magnificence  in  no  way 
inferior  to  that  of  the  marriage.  During  the  three 
months  and  a  half  which  followed  on  the  return  from 
Cherbourg,  the  Court  resided  in  succession  at  St. 
Cloud,  in  Paris,  Trianon  and  Compiegne. 

The  young  prince  was  christened  at  Notre  Dame, 
in  the  presence  of  the  three  great  Corporations  of 
State  (the  Senate,  the  Council  of  State,  and  the  Legis- 
lative Body),  the  magistrates  and  law  officers,  the 
Municipal  councils,  and  the  deputations  from  the  fifty 
"good  cities,"  and  of  the  diplomatic  corps.  The  fine 
bearing  of  the  troops,  who  made  a  line  from  the 
Tuileries  to  Notre  Dame,  and  the  magnificence  of  the 
imperial  procession  were  an  imposing  spectacle;  but 
what  increased  the  magnificence  of  this  triumphal 
march  was  the  immense  crowd  of  Parisian  and  foreign 
spectators,  which  was  so  great  that  one  might  have 
said  that  the  inhabitants  of  every  house  had  come 
down  into  the  streets  and  public  squares.  All  along 
the  route  followed  by  the  procession  the  houses  were 
draped  with  hangings,  and  flags  floated  at  every  win- 
dow. At  the  sight  of  the  carriage  in  which  the  im- 
perial child  was  lying  on  the  knees  of  his  governess 
and  which  preceded  the  carriage  of  Their  Majesties 
the  air  re-echoed  with  general  acclamations,  and  cries 


746  MEMOIRS    OF 

for  his  prosperity.  Unusual  pomp  presided  over  the 
rehgious  service.  The  god- father  who  was  the  Em- 
peror of  Austria,  was  represented  by  the  Grand-duke  of 
Wiirzburg.  The  second  god-father  was  King  Joseph. 
The  god-mother  was  the  Lady  Mother  (Napoleon's 
mother).  The  second  god-mother  was  the  Queen  of 
Naples,  represented  by  Queen  Hortense.  Silence  and 
reserve  were  maintained  during  the  ceremony;  but, 
when  Napoleon,  taking  his  son  into  his  arms,  showed 
him  to  those  who  were  present,  cheers  and  applause, 
which  had  been  restrained  by  the  sanctity  of  the  act 
and  by  the  solemnity  of  the  place,  broke  out  on  every 
side,  awakening  the  echoes  of  the  ancient  cathedral. 

On  leaving  the  cathedral  Their  Majesties  proceeded 
to  the  Hotel  de  Ville  where  the  Prefect,  followed  by 
the  municipal  body,  received  them  and  offered  them  a 
banquet  and  concert  in  the  name  of  the  city.  After 
the  concert  the  sovereigns  walked  through  the  draw- 
ing-rooms in  which  had  assembled  the  persons  who 
had  been  invited,  and  with  whom  they  conversed.  To- 
wards midnight  the  Emperor  and  Empress  returned 
to  the  Tuileries  by  the  light  of  illuminations  which 
lighted  them  all  the  way  home.  More  or  less  ingenious 
allegories  and  emblems  interpreted  the  expression  of 
a  genuine  feeling.  The  weather  on  this  fine  day  was 
serene  and  calm.  Public  rejoicings,  consisting  of 
theatrical  performances,  dances,  distribution  of  pro- 
visions, illuminations,  and  balloon  ascents,  were  of- 
fered to  the  people  in  the  Champs-Elysees  and  other 
places.  Public  rejoicings  took  place  in  all  the  provin- 
cial departments. 

A  deputation  from  the  municipal  council  of  Tou- 
louse presented  the  Emperor  with  a  most  costly  manu- 
script on  vellum,  a  masterpiece  of  calligraphy,  en- 
riched with  miniatures  picked  out  with  gold,  and  with 
each  page  framed  in  a  vignette,  the  design  of  which 


NAPOLEON  I.  747 

varied  on  each  page.  This  manuscript,  which  was 
of  priceless  vahie,  forming  a  quarto  vohime,  bound  in 
fwcarat  veh^et.  was  Charlemagne's  book  of  hours ;  it 
had  cost  the  artists  who  had  taken  part  in  its  produc- 
tion seven  years'  labour.  This  prince  had  presented 
it  to  the  abbey  of  Saint  Sernin  near  Toulouse — 
destroyed  to-day — in  memory  of  the  christening  of 
his  son  Pepin.  The  municipal  council  had  considered 
that  this  monument  of  the  arts  of  the  ninth  century, 
which  had  been  preserved  with  religious  care,  would 
be  properly  disposed  of  if  Napoleon  became  its  pro- 
prietor. Since  Providence  had  allowed  an  identical 
occurrence  to  renew  itself  one  thousand  years  later, 
the  presentation  of  this  manuscript  to  Charlemagne's 
successor,  on  the  occasion  of  the  birth  of  his  heir, 
seemed  very  fitting  and  appropriate.  A  deputation  of 
the  members  of  the  council  proceeded,  in  consequence, 
to  Paris,  to  offer  the  precious  manuscript  to  the  new 
Charlemagne.  The  Emperor  accepted  the  present  and 
placed  the  manuscript  in  his  library.  This  book  of 
hours  is  at  present  in  the  Louvre  library. 

Some  days  after  the  banquet  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville 
a  fete  took  place  in  the  private  park  of  St.  Cloud 
which  reminded  the  Empress  of  her  native  country. 
Orchestras,  dispersed  in  the  shrubberies,  played  dances 
and  waltzes  which  were  performed  by  the  dancers  of 
the  Opera  dressed  in  the  costumes  of  German  shep- 
herds and  peasants.  An  interlude :  "  La  Fete  du  Vil- 
lage," composed  by  Etienne,  and  set  to  music  by 
Nicolo,  was  performed  on  an  open  air  stage.  A  lady 
aeronaut  of  the  day,  Madame  Rlanrhartl — made  an 
ascent  in  a  balloon,  and  remained  floating  for  some 
time  on  a  level  with  the  tops  of  the  trees. 

At  a  given  signal  the  balloon  rose  majestically  into 
the  air.  Then  a  large  fire-work  star  exploded,  and 
for  the   space  of   some  minutes  filled   the   sky   with 


748  MEMOIRS    OF 

dazzling  light.  Unfortunately  a  heavy  fall  of  rain 
spoiled  the  end  of  the  evening,  and  produced  some 
disorder. 

The  amusements  of  the  Court  followed  one  upon 
the  other  almost  without  interruption.  August  15th 
brought  with  it  the  Emperor's  fete  and  the  fete  of  the 
King  of  Rome,  which  were  celebrated  at  St.  Cloud 
with  a  display  of  fireworks  which  was  carried  out  by 
the  artillery  of  the  Imperial  Guard,  and  in  which  the 
initials  of  the  two  spouses  and  their  son  figured. 
Anthems  appropriate  for  the  occasion  were  sung.  Ten 
days  later — August  25th — was  the  Empress's  fete,  and 
this  was  celebrated  at  Trianon.  The  weather  had 
become  splendid,  and  the  delicious  gardens  of  the 
Petit  Trianon,  the  buildings,  lakes,  islands,  of  this 
magic  resort  lent  themselves  to  scenes  and  combina- 
tions of  which  the  organizers  of  the  fete  were  able  to 
make  the  best  possible  use.  A  piece  composed  by  M. 
Alissan  de  Chazet,  entitled  "  Le  Jardinier  de  Schbn- 
hrunn,"  was  performed  in  the  theatre  at  Trianon. 
This  performance  was  accompanied  by  a  ballet,  which 
was  executed  by  the  principal  opera  dancers.  The 
Emperor,  with  the  Empress  on  his  arm,  and  followed 
by  almost  the  entire  Court,  walked  about  in  the  little 
park  for  some  time.  Cantatas,  which  had  been  set 
to  music  by  Paer,  were  sung  in  their  honour,  and  the 
fete  terminated  with  a  splendid  supper. 

This  fete,  which  was  the  most  agreeable  of  all, 
ended  the  series  of  public  rejoicings  given  to  celebrate 
the  marriage  of  the  Emperor  and  the  birth  of  the 
King  of  Rome.  The  grace  and  dignity  displayed  by 
Marie  Louise  on  this  occasion  attracted  general  atten- 
tion. Napoleon  seemed  happy.  He  was  affable  at 
home,  and  affectionate  towards  the  Empress.  When 
he  found  her  grave,  he  amused  her  by  goodhumoured 
remarks,  or  disconcerted  her  reserve  by  embracing  her 


NAPOLEON    I.  749 

in  a  cordial  and  hearty  manner.  In  public  he  treated 
her  with  great  respect,  and  with  a  dignity  which  did 
not  exclude  a  sort  of  noble  familiarity.  His  manners 
to  her  in  general  expressed  an  affection  full  of  confi- 
dence. At  the  same  time,  wishing  to  preserve  in  its 
primitive  purity  the  innocence  which  had  so  much 
charm  for  him.  and  to  remove  from  her  the  suspicions 
which  French  lightness  usually  admits,  Napoleon  had 
established  in  the  Empress's  household  an  order  of 
service  by  which  she  was  so  fenced  in  that  one  might 
have  thought  him  jealous.  Marie  Louise's  timidity, 
her  love  of  family  life,  her  mistrust  of  herself,  and 
the  prejudices  with  which  she  had  been  inspired 
against  most  of  the  persons  at  Court,  and  against  the 
spirit  of  mockery  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the 
French,  kept  this  princess  away  from  liasons  which 
might  have  displeased  the  Emperor,  and  which,  more- 
over, had  no  attraction  in  her  eyes.  The  habits  of 
favouritism  in  which  she  had  been  brought  up,  and 
which  in  her  isolation  she  needed,  were  bestowed  on 
the  lady  who,  by  the  advice  of  her  husband,  was  ad- 
mitted to  her  intimacy.  The  attachment  which  she 
conceived  for  the  Duchess  of  Montebello,  her  lady  in 
waiting,  filled  this  void.  Marie  Louise  never  chatted 
familiarly  with  the  persons  attached  to  her  service, 
but,  however,  always  treated  them  with  indulgence 
and  kindness. 

The  Emperor  wished  her  to  take  horse  exercise, 
and  Marie  Louise  received  her  first  lessons  in  riding 
in  the  riding  school  of  St.  Cloud.  Napoleon  used  to 
walk  by  her  side,  holding  her  hand,  whilst  the  equerry 
held  the  horse's  bridle.  He  calmed  her  fears,  and 
encouraged  her.  She  took  advantage  of  her  lessons, 
grew  courageous,  and  ended  by  being  able  to  keep 
her  seat  very  well.  When,  to  her  master's  credit, 
she  had  become  a  horsewoman,  the  lessons  were  some- 


750  MEMOIRS    OF 

times  continued  in  the  avenue  of  the  private  park 
which  led  out  from  the  family  drawing-room,  so  called 
because  it  was  adorned  with  portraits  of  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  imperial  family.  Napoleon,  when  he  had 
a  few  minutes  to  spare,  after  lunch,  would  send  for 
his  horse,  get  on  horseback,  dressed  in  silk  stockings 
and  buckled  shoes,  and  would  ride  by  the  Empress's 
side.  He  would  excite  her  horse,  and  set  off  at  a 
gallop,  laughing  heartily  when  she  cried  out  for  fear 
of  falling.  It  is  true  that  this  danger  did  not  exist, 
for  grooms  were  standing  all  along  the  avenue  ready 
to  stop  the  horse,  and  to  prevent  a  fall. 

After  the  fetes  at  Trianon  the  court  returned  to 
Compiegne,  where  it  remained  three  weeks.  This 
palace,  where  the  Emperor  had  received  Marie  Lou- 
ise on  her  arrival  in  France,  was  at  that  time  the  ob- 
ject of  his  special  preference.  He  had  ordered  works 
to  be  carried  out  on  the  estate  which  were  under  the 
direction  of  Berthault,  the  architect,  and  were  being 
executed  with  a  rapidity  which  was  nothing  less  than 
marvellous.  New  gardens  had  been  created  by  this 
architect  and  an  entirely  new  appearance  had  been 
given  to  the  residence.  So  great  were  the  embellish- 
ments that  had  been  effected  that  the  park  seemed  to- 
tally transformed.  It  was  now  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful and  most  elegant  of  the  Emperor's  pleasure  houses. 
Their  Majesties'  arrival  at  Compiegne  was  saddened 
by  the  death  of  General  Ordener,  Governor  of  the 
Palace,  who  was  struck  down  on  the  following  day  by 
apoplexy,  and  who  died  under  the  eyes  of  Doctor  Ler- 
minier.  The  general  had  come  the  day  before  to  Com- 
piegne to  receive  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  and  Na- 
poleon had  complimented  him  on  his  good  health.  He 
regarded  him  as  one  of  the  bravest  and  best  of  his 
officers.  General  Ordener  had  a  long  time  com- 
manded,   with    distinction    to    himself,    the    mounted 


NAPOLEON  I.  731 

grenadiers  of  the  guard.  His  rough  plain-spokenness 
sometimes  amused  the  ladies  of  the  court,  but  he  was 
one  of  those  men  who  are  endowed  with  an  iron  con- 
stitution— both  moral  and  physical,  rather  unculti- 
vated, perhaps ;  but.  in  any  case,  of  a  loyalty  without 
flaw,  of  rigid  principles,  trained  in  the  laws  of  severe 
discipline,  and  incapable  of  compounding  with  his 
duties. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  King  of  Rome  was  growing 
in  strength  and  beauty,  under  the  vigilant  care  of 
Madame  Montesquiou.  who  loved  him  as  a  son.  and 
who  had  for  him  the  most  minute  solicitude.  He  was 
carried  every  morning  to  his  mother,  who  kept  him 
with  her  during  the  hour  of  her  toilette.  In  the  day- 
time, in  the  intervals  between  her  music  and  drawing 
lessons,  Marie  Louise  used  to  go  to  the  young  prince's 
apartment,  and  work  at  his  side  at  some  piece  of 
needlework.  Often,  followed  by  the  nurse  who  car- 
ried the  child,  she  would  take  him  to  his  father  whilst 
he  was  at  work.  When  he  was  announced  Napoleon 
would  rise  to  go  and  receive  him,  nobody  being  al- 
lowed to  enter  his  cabinet;  the  nurse  was  forced  to 
remain  outside,  and  Marie  Louise  would  be  asked  to 
bring  her  son  in  herself.  The  Empress  had  so  little 
trust  in  herself  in  taking  the  child  from  the  arms  of 
the  nurse  that  Napoleon  would  hasten  to  go  and  meet 
her,  and  would  take  his  son  into  his  arms,  and  carry 
him  away,  covering  him  with  kisses.  This  work- 
room, which  was  tlie  scene  of  the  birth  of  so  many 
skilful  manoeuvres  intended  to  repel  the  attacks  of  our 
eternal  enemies,  and  so  many  vast  and  generous 
schemes  of  government,  was  very  often  also  the  silent 
witness  of  Napoleon's  paternal  tenderness.  How 
often  have  I  watched  the  Emperor  there,  keeping  his 
son  at  his  side  as  though  he  were  impatient  to  initiate 
him  in  the  art  of  government.     Either  seated  on  his 


752  MEMOIRS    OF 

favourite  settee  near  the  mantelpiece,  which  was 
decorated  with  two  magnificent  bronze  busts  of  Scipio 
and  of  Hannibal,  occupied  in  reading-  some  important 
report;  or  going  to  his  writing-table,  which  was  cut 
out  in  the  centre,  and  the  sides  of  which  spread  out 
like  wings — covered  with  his  numerous  papers — to 
sign  a  despatch,  each  word  of  which  had  to  be 
weighed ;  his  son,  seated  on  his  knees  or  pressed 
against  his  bosom,  never  left  him.  Endowed  with  a 
marvellous  power  of  concentration.  Napoleon  was 
able  at  one  and  the  same  time  to  attend  to  serious  mat- 
ters, and  to  lend  himself  to  a  child's  fancies.  Some- 
times putting  aside  all  his  preoccupations  he  would  lie 
down  on  the  floor  at  the  side  of  his  darling  son  and 
play  with  him  as  a  child  himself,  looking  out  for  what 
would  amuse  him  or  spare  him  vexation. 

Napoleon  had  some  little  manoeuvre  pieces  made. 
These  were  little  bits  of  mahogany  of  different  col- 
ours and  lengths.  The  tops  were  fretted,  and  these 
pieces  represented  battalions,  regiments,  and  divisions. 
When  the  Emperor  wanted  to  try  some  new  combina- 
tion of  troops,  some  new  military  evolution,  he  made 
use  of  these  pieces  of  wood,  which  he  set  up  on  the 
carpet  of  the  floor  so  as  to  give  himself  a  larger  field 
for  manoeuvre.  Sometimes  his  son  would  surprise 
him  seriously  occupied  with  the  positions  of  these 
pieces,  preparing  himself  in  this  way  for  one  of  those 
clever  manoeuvres  which  assured  him  victory  in  his 
battles.  The  child,  lying  on  the  floor  at  his  side, 
pleased  with  the  colour  and  the  form  of  these  man- 
oeuvre pieces — which  reminded  him  of  his  toys — 
would  at  each  instant  touch  them  with  his  hand  and 
disturb  the  order  of  battle  at  a  decisive  moment  just 
when  the  enemy  was  about  to  be  beaten.  But  so  great 
was  Napoleon's  presence  of  mind,  and  his  affection 
for  his  son,  that  he  did  not  allow  himself  to  be  dis- 


NAPOLEON    I.  753 

turbed  b}-  the  disorder  into  which  the  child  had  thrown 
his  strategical  combinations,  and  contented  himself, 
without  manifesting-  any  impatience,  with  putting  the 
pieces  back  into  their  right  order.  His  patience  and 
kindness  for  his  child  were  inexhaustible.  At  such 
times  it  was  not  only  the  heir  of  his  name  and  glory 
that  he  loved  in  this  son  of  his.  When  he  held  him 
in  his  arms  and  intoxicated  himself  with  his  caresses, 
it  was  not  pride  or  ambition  which  predominated  in 
his  mind. 

The  Emperor  used  to  lunch  alone.  Madame  de 
Montesquiou  used  to  carry  the  King  of  Rome  to  his 
father  at  lunch  every  day.  Napoleon  would  take  him 
on  his  knees,  amuse  himself  in  petting  him  and  put- 
ting his  glass  to  the  boy's  lips,  and  would  laugh  heart- 
ily, chiding  the  child  at  the  grimaces  that  it  used  to 
make  when  a  drop  of  w^ine  stung  its  tongue.  One 
day  when  the  child  was  putting  its  mouth  out  to  take 
a  piece  of  some  food  which  his  father  offered  it,  Na- 
poleon drew  his  hand  back,  and  repeated  this  little 
practical  joke  twice.  The  third  time,  however,  the 
young  prince  turned  his  head  away,  and  obstinately 
refused  to  take  the  tit-bit.  The  Emperor  expressing 
his  surprise  at  this  conduct,  Madame  de  Montesquiou 
said  that  the  child  did  not  like  people  to  try  to  deceive 
it,  and  added  "he  is  proud  and  sensitive!  "  "  He  is 
proud  and  sensitive?"  repeated  the  Emperor — "It  is 
a  very  good  thing.  It  is  because  he  is  like  that  that 
I  love  him!  "  Delighted  to  find  these  two  qualities  in 
his  son,  the  Emperor  embraced  him  with  tenderness. 
He  used  to  forget  his  cares  and  public  business  in  these 
short  moments,  and  the  very  few  persons  whom  he 
used  to  admit  to  his  intimacy  during  this  meal  hour 
were  assured  of  being  always  received  by  him  in  the 
most  gracious  manner. 

The  Empress  Josephine  had  asked  as  a  favour  to 


754  MEMOIRS    OF 

be  allowed  to  have  the  King  of  Rome  taken  to  her. 
Napoleon  promised,  but  feared  for  her  sake  the  emo- 
tion which  the  sight  of  this  child  must  necessarily 
cause  her.  He,  however,  gave  way  before  her  press- 
ing requests,  and  Madame  de  Montesquiou  conducted 
the  young  prince  to  Bagatelle,  a  small  pleasure  house 
in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne.  This  took  place  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  Empress  Marie  Louise  who  was 
animated  with  a  feeling  of  jealousy,  which  was  based 
on  the  fear  of  the  ascendancy  which  a  woman  who 
had  been  so  loved  by  her  husband  might  still  retain 
over  him.  The  excellent  Princess  could  not  restrain 
her  tears  at  the  sight  of  a  child  who  recalled  such 
painful  memories  and  the  privation  of  a  happiness 
which  Heaven  had  refused  to  her.  She  embraced 
him  with  transports.  She  seemed  to  take  pleasure 
in  the  illusion  produced  by  the  thought  that  she  was 
lavishing  her  caresses  on  her  own  child.  She  never 
wearied  of  admiring  his  strength  and  beauty,  and 
could  not  detach  herself  from  him.  The  moments 
during  which  she  held  him  in  her  arms  seemed  to  her 
very  short. 

Napoleon,  who  was  the  best  of  fathers,  could  not 
be  otherwise  than  a  good  son,  and  had  for  his  mother 
a  constant  and  respectful  affection.  His  tenderness 
for  her  in  public  was  mingled  with  respect  and  grav- 
ity. He  had  given  her  a  proof  of  this,  a  proof  which 
this  venerable  woman  appreciated  above  all  others, 
when  he  had  appointed  her  Patroness  General  of 
Charitable  Institutions.  Napoleon's  mother  was  a  Ro- 
man matron,  both  in  appearance  and  by  the  loftiness 
of  her  character.  Prosperity  had  no  more  dazzled  her 
than  bad  fortune  had  cast  her  down.  Her  parsimony 
has  been  jested  about,  but  her  children  always  found 
her  ready  to  help  them  with  her  private  fortune. 
When  the  Emperor  was  at  St.  Helena  his  mother  sent 


NAPOLEON    I.  755 

him  a  full  account  of  her  fortune,  and  begged  him  to 
dispose  of  whatever  belonged  to  her,  an  offer  which 
Napoleon  did  not  accept.  When  somebody  pointed 
out  to  her,  at  the  time  when  she  thus  offered  her  prop- 
erty to  her  son,  that  she  was  reducing  herself  to  in- 
digence in  this  way:  "What  does  it  matter?"  she 
answered ;  "  when  I  shall  have  nothing  more.  I  will 
take  my  stick,  and  I  will  go  about  begging  alms  for 
Napoleon's  mother." 

A  pearl,  which  was  celebrated  for  its  size  and  the 
purity  of  its  colour,  known  by  the  name  of  the  Pere- 
grine pearl,  had  disappeared  from  the  Spanish  crown 
treasury  during  the  troubles  brought  on  in  this  coun- 
try by  the  change  of  dynasty.  Great  search  was  made 
for  this  jewel.  I  do  not  know  what  result  it  had,  but 
I  think,  though  I  cannot  affirm  it,  that  these  investi- 
gations led  to  a  discovery  of  another  kind,  namely  of 
several  letters  addressed  to  Paris  by  Joachim,  King 
of  Naples.  To  judge  from  the  terms  of  this  corre- 
spondence it  appeared  certain  that  Murat's  friends  had 
thought  that  something  might  happen  which  would 
render  the  imperial  throne  vacant.  Fouchc,  Talley- 
rand, and  others  had  already  thought  of  taking  their 
precautions  in  view  of  such  an  event.  The  Emperor, 
having  neither  children  nor  any  fixed  successor  at 
that  time.  King  Murat  might  consider  himself  author- 
ized to  prepare  himself  to  establish  the  claims  he  had 
to  this  succession.  This  ambition  was  perhaps  excus- 
able at  a  time  when  every  head  was  excited  by  the 
splendid  instances  of  prodigious  fortunes.  Napoleon 
seemed  to  think  so,  for  he  manifested  no  resentment 
against  his  brother-in-law.  Fouche  had  said  one  day 
that  if  the  throne  ever  became  vacant,  which  with 
God's  help  should  never  be,  he  would  take  measures 
to  get  as  much  power  into  his  hands  as  possible.  The 
Emperor  answered  this  remark  with  some  words  which 


756  MEMOIRS    OF 

were  remembered :  "  You  would  do  well.  It  would 
be  your  right." 

Napoleon,  however,  thought  it  right  to  have  the 
person  in  whose  possession  these  letters  were  found 
— he  was  a  chamberlain  to  King  Joachim — arrested; 
and  he  was  confined  for  three  months  in  the  prison 
at  Vincennes.  On  leaving  prison  this  officer  was 
given  the  choice  of  returning  to  Naples  or  of  staying 
in  France,  but  not  in  Paris.  He  retired  to  an  estate 
which  he  owned  in  Poitou,  and  the  famous  letters  were 
deposited  in  the  Imperial  Archives. 

These  circumstances,  and  other  reasons  for  dis- 
content, irritated  the  King  of  Naples.  His  bad  tem- 
per broke  out  when  he  was  ordered  to  send  a  contin- 
gent of  Neapolitan  troops  to  join  the  French  army. 
From  the  month  of  August  of  this  year,  1811,  the 
signs  of  a  misunderstanding  with  Russia,  and  the  hid- 
den preparations  for  war  which  were  beginning  to  be 
made  by  this  power,  obliged  the  Emperor  to  increase 
the  garrison  at  Dantzig,  and  to  put  the  French  army 
on  a  larger  footing. 

King  Murat  wished  the  Emperor  rather  to  recall 
the  French  soldiers  who  had  remained  in  the  Kingdom 
of  Naples.  Napoleon  had  refused  to  do  this,  and  then 
Joachim  wanted  to  exact  that  the  French  who  had 
remained  in  his  service  should  naturalize  themselves 
Neapolitan  subjects.  All  the  French  asked  for  their 
leave,  with  the  exception  of  one  general,  who  occu- 
pied a  high  position  in  the  King's  household.  Gen- 
eral Exelmans,  and  generals  and  civil  officers  who 
were  strongly  attached  to  the  king,  and  who  had  been 
presented  with  important  offices  at  court,  preferred  to 
give  up  all  these  advantages  rather  than  to  lose  their 
French  nationality.  Napoleon  received  with  indigna- 
tion the  news  of  the  pretensions  set  up  by  the  King, 
his    brother-in-law.      A    severely-worded    decree    re- 


NAPOLEON    I.  757 

minded  Murat  of  the  fact  that  his  kingdom  was  an 
integral  part  of  the  French  Empire,  and  that  the  sov- 
ereign seated  on  the  throne  of  Naples  owed  his  crown 
to  French  valour.  This  decree  proclaimed  with  cold 
disdain  that  every  French  citizen  was  de  jure  a  citizen 
of  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  that  any  measure  to 
the  contrary,  emanating  from  King  Joachim,  might  in 
no  case  be  applicable  to  French  subjects.  The  King 
of  Naples  could  not  endure  with  calm  the  humiliation 
thus  inflicted  on  him.  The  struggle  of  the  opposite 
feelings  of  wounded  pride  and  passionate  affection  for 
the  Emperor,  which  raged  within  him,  very  nearly 
drove  him  mad.  I  have  heard  the  Queen,  his  w'ife, 
say  that  she  kept  her  husband  isolated  from  everybody 
for  two  whole  days,  for  fear  that  anybody  should  see 
the  state  of  aberration  into  which  he  had  fallen.  In 
his  rage  King  Joachim  had  even  wished  to  exile  the 
Queen  to  Castellamare,  because  she  disapproved  of  the 
conditions  of  naturalization  imposed  on  the  French. 
Returning  to  a  better  state  of  mind  Murat  sent  his 
wife  to  Paris  to  make  peace  with  Napoleon.  Napo- 
leon really  liked  Joachim  Alurat.  He  spoke  severely 
at  first  about  his  brother-in-law,  but  soon  all  traces  of 
dissent  disappeared  on  both  sides.  The  King  of  Na- 
ples returned,  as  in  the  good  times  of  the  past,  to  bring 
to  our  ranks  during  the  war  with  Russia,  which  broke 
out  in  the  following  year,  the  assistance  of  his  heroic 
valour  and  the  enthusiasm  with  which  he  knew  how 
to  inspire  his  troops,  and  especially  the  cavalry. 

In  the  spring  of  1811  there  was  a  change  in  the 
Ministry,  a  circumstance  which  till  then  had  only 
happened  very  rarely.  As  a  matter  of  fact  during 
Napoleon's  reign,  the  Ministers  were,  so  to  speak,  irre- 
movable. The  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs  alone  did 
not  participate  in  this  immutability.  The  vicissitudes 
undergone  in  consequence  of  the  troubled  state  of  our 


758  MEMOIRS    OF 

relations  with  Europe  necessitated  an  occasional 
change  in  the  direction  of  foreign  affairs.  In  conse- 
quence, Count  Daru  entered  the  Ministry,  where  he 
took  the  place  of  the  Due  de  Bassano,  who  himself 
had  replaced  the  Due  de  Cadorc.  Count  Daru  brought 
to  his  new  post  that  indefatigable  ardour  for  work, 
which  had  attracted  the  Emperor's  attention,  those 
capacities,  that  rigidity  of  morals,  and  that  uprightness 
which  have  always  characterized  the  administrative 
career  of  this  Minister.  Napoleon  had  in  M.  Daru  a 
confidence  which  was  absolute  because  it  was  founded 
on  esteem.  During  the  Emperor's  stay  in  Moscow, 
M.  Daru  gave  him  an  account  of  a  private  letter  which 
he  had  just  received  from  General  Moreau's  wife. 
This  lady  asked  M.  Daru  to  support  a  request  which 
she  was  making  to  be  allowed  to  land  in  France,  where 
her  presence  was  rendered  necessary  by  certain  fam- 
ily affairs.  Napoleon,  suspecting  the  real  motive  of 
Madame  Moreau's  request,  a  motive  which  was 
clearly  exposed  by  subsequent  events,  refused  this  per- 
mission, but  bore  M.  Daru  no  grudge  for  his  action 
in  this  matter.  When  Moreau's  presence  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  allied  troops,  in  1813,  was  made 
known,  the  Emperor  contented  himself  with  remind- 
ing M.  Daru  of  the  communication  which  he  had 
made  to  him  at  the  Kremlin.  If  on  the  one  hand  Na- 
poleon had  a  great  respect  for  Count  Daru,  it  cannot, 
on  the  other  hand  be  said  that  he  had  any  sympathy 
for  him  personally.  He  appreciated  his  work,  and  al- 
ways found  him  useful,  but  he  never  showed  him  any 
expansive  confidence.  M.  Darn's  attitude  towards  the 
Emperor,  on  his  side,  was  marked  by  a  singular  re- 
serve. I  am  unable  to  say  whether  there  was  any 
reason  for  this  Minister's  embarrassment  in  the  pre- 
sence of  his  sovereign,  and  whether  the  remembrance 
of  his  former  relations  with  General  Moreau,  or  some 


NAPOLEON    I.  759 

other  reason,  influenced  his  feeHngs  towards  Napo- 
leon. Whatever  may  be  the  conjectures  formed  on 
this  matter,  the  truth  is  that  ^I.  Daru  served  the 
Emperor  with  zeal  and  fidelity,  but  that  the  latter  did 
not  like  him.  M.  Daru  was  convinced — I  am  sure 
that  I  do  not  know  for  what  reason — that  Napoleon 
did  not  trust  him.  In  the  last  year  of  his  life  this  min- 
ister did  me  the  honour  of  telling  me  that  each  time 
that  he  went  to  see  the  Emperor  he  took  the  key  of 
his  writing-table  with  him  in  his  pocket — ready,  at 
the  slightest  expression  of  discontent  on  Napoleon's 
part,  to  hand  him  over  this  key,  begging  him  to  send 
for  his  family  papers.  "  He  would  have  seen,"  added 
M.  Daru,  *'  by  comparing  the  inventory  of  my  pos- 
sessions when  I  entered  his  service,  with  the  existing 
state  of  my  affairs,  that  I  had  not  increased  my  for- 
tune in  any  illegitimate  way." 

Before  speaking  of  the  journey  which  the  Emperor 
took,  in  1811.  with  Marie  Louise,  I  wish  to  say  a 
word  about  a  despatch  which  was  sent  to  him  towards 
the  end  of  May  by  Marshal  Davout,  who  was  com- 
manding the  troops  stationed  in  tlie  Hanseatic  pro- 
vinces. At  the  time  of  the  first  occupation  of  these 
provinces  serious  malversations  of  public  money  had 
been  committed.  The  general  who  was  at  that  time  in 
command  in  this  district  and  in  Hanover,  who  since 
had  reached  a  lofty  destiny,  was  said  to  have  tolerated 
this  disorder.  The  magistrates  of  the  States  occupied 
by  our  armies  had  lent  themselves  to  the  sacrifices 
which  were  suggested  to  them  as  likely  to  be  pro- 
fitable to  the  interests  of  their  towns.  Prince  d'Eck- 
muchl,  who  came  to  Hamburg  long  after,  who  was  as 
inaccessible  to  corruption  as  he  was  a  strict  discipli- 
narian, insisted  on  a  speedy  payment  of  the  taxes.  The 
towns  replied  that  it  was  only  fair  that  the  sums  which 


76o  MEMOIRS    OF 

they  had  already  paid,  and  which  amounted  to  about 
four  milHons,  should  be  taken  into  account.  As  these 
sums  had  not  been  paid  either  into  the  army  treasury 
or  into  the  treasury  of  the  extraordinary  domain,  the 
Marshal  replied  by  demanding  the  local  authorities  to 
produce  the  proofs  of  payment  of  the  war  indemni- 
ties. After  long  hesitation  the  senate  of  Hamburg 
finally  consented  to  hand  in  a  list  of  people  who  had 
received  either  money  or  presents,  together  with  a  full 
account  of  the  sums  paid  in  cash  or  kind  to  each  per- 
son named. 

The  names  of  persons  of  all  classes,  of  officers  of 
every  rank,  from  the  Marshal  down  to  the  commis- 
sary of  wars,  were  to  be  found  on  this  list;  but  in  still 
greater  number  were  the  names  of  civil  functionaries 
of  every  rank,  from  the  ambassador  down  to  his 
diplomatic  agents  and  simple  employes.  Some  had 
received  sums  of  money,  others  presents  for  their 
wives  or  for  themselves.  The  Emperor  repeatedly  in- 
sisting on  seeing  this  list,  received  it  at  last  from  the 
Prince  d'Eckmuehl.  Napoleon  placed  it  in  the  hands 
of  the  Minister  of  the  Public  Treasury,  with  orders 
to  sue  for  the  recovery  of  these  sums  which  had  thus 
been  extorted  or  illegally  received.  The  soldiers,  for 
whom  there  was  more  excuse  under  the  circumstances, 
were  less  roughly  treated  than  the  civilians  who  could 
justify  themselves  by  no  motive.  The  latter  were 
accordingly  more  severely  treated,  but  it  was  thought 
advisable  to  treat  certain  persons  in  high  positions 
with  tolerance.  Some  of  the  fraudulent  bailees  paid 
back  what  they  had  received.  The  fall  of  the  Em- 
pire saved  the  most  guilty.  The  resentment  retained 
by  the  persons  compromised  in  this  affair  can  be  imag- 
ined. There  lies  the  reason  of  many  desertions  and 
outbreaks  of  hostility,  which  manifested  themselves 
against  the  Emperor  whenhewasnolongertobefeared. 


NAPOLEON    I.  761 

The  Due  de  Cadore  received  orders  to  inform  one  of 
the  diplomatic  agents  whose  name  was  mentioned  on 
the  hst  siippHed  by  the  Hamburg  senate,  who  had 
been  plenipotentiary  minister  to  the  Hanseatic  cities, 
that  he  had  to  count  with  him  as  a  clerk  with  his 
master,  and  to  pay  over  to  the  treasury  of  the  Min- 
istry of  Foreign  Affairs,  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the 
sums  which  he  had  received,  this  money  to  be  applied 
to  finishing  a  mansion  which  had  been  commenced  on 
the  Ouai  d'Orsav.  and  which  was  intended  for  the 
Ministry  offices  and  residence.  The  reason  of  the 
order  signified  to  Bourrienne  by  the  Due  de  Cadore 
is  more  in  accordance  with  truth  than  the  somewhat 
cynical  answer  of  which  the  latter  boasts  in  his  Mem- 
oirs. 

Since  I  have  related  an  occurrence  which  shows 
that  Napoleon,  in  spite  of  his  vigilance,  was  unable  to 
prevent  all  disorder,  I  will  quote  another  of  the  same 
kind  which  took  place  later  on,  and  which  was  not 
known,  at  least  ofiicially,  by  the  Emperor,  for  what 
reason  will  be  seen.  During  the  1807  campaign  a 
war  indemnity  of  three  hundred  thousand  francs  was 
imposed  on  the  province  of  Erfurth.  Deputies  from 
this  province  came  to  headquarters  to  ask  for  a  re- 
duction. Count  Daru,  to  whom  they  addressed  them- 
selves, received  them  very  badly,  but  they  repeated 
their  application  so  often  that  the  Minister  told  them 
that  they  did  wrong  to  complain,  seeing  that  the  sum 
of  three  hundred  thousand  francs  which  had  been  de- 
manded of  them  was  not  more  than  the  resources  of 
their  provinces  could  afford.  'Tf  we  only  owe  three 
hundred  thousand  francs,"  they  answered,  "  we  have 
paid."  "Have  you  receipts  in  order?"  In  answer 
to  this  question  they  produced  a  receipt  from  the 
assigner  of  payments.  Count  Daru  wrote  to  the 
latter  who  admitted  to  him  that  the  Marshal  in  com- 


762  MEMOIRS    OF 

mand  of  the  army  corps  which  was  stationed  at  that 
time  in  the  province,  and  who  since  was  raised  to  a 
rank  which  put  him  above  the  reach  of  all  jurisdiction, 
had  allotted  two  hundred  thousand  francs  out  of  the 
money  received  to  himself,  and  had  allowed  him  to 
keep  one  hundred  thousand  francs.  Count  Daru  in- 
formed this  functionary  that  unless  the  entire  sum  was 
paid  into  the  army  treasury  within  an  assigned  period, 
the  Emperor  would  be  informed  of  the  matter.  In 
consequence  of  this  the  assigner  of  payments  made 
haste  to  pay  over  the  three  hundred  thousand  francs. 
He,  however,  declared  that  he  had  paid  the  whole 
sum  out  of  his  pocket,  as  the  Marshal  had  refused 
to  restore  the  two  hundred  thousand  francs  which 
he  had  appropriated.  M.  Daru  never  informed  the 
Emperor  of  this  ajffair,  and  it  was  only  twenty 
years  later  that  he  revealed  it  in  private  conversation. 
On  September  19th,  181 1,  Napoleon  left  Compiegne 
for  his  proposed  journey  in  Holland.  His  object  was 
to  visit  this  peculiar  country,  the  originality  of  which 
attracted  his  attention.  He  proposed  to  see  the  works 
which  had  either  been  finished  or  were  in  course  of 
execution,  necessary  for  binding  his  third  capital  to 
the  metropolitan  seat  of  the  Empire,  and  intended 
to  render  communications  between  Amsterdam  and 
Paris  most  rapid.  The  Emperor  accordingly  preceded 
the  Empress,  giving  her  rendezvous  in  Antwerp,  as  he 
wished  to  spare  her  the  fatigues  of  a  military  journey, 
in  which,  moreover,  she  would  have  been  forced  to 
dispense  with  the  pomp  attaching  to  her  rank.  Marie 
Louise,  after  leaving  Compiegne,  proceeded  to  the 
castle  of  Laeken.  Napoleon  was  not  displeased  at  the 
idea  of  her  appearing  in  provinces  which  formerly  had 
been  governed  by  the  House  of  Austria.  The  Empress 
made  several  excursions  to  Brussels,  where  she  was 
received  as  she  had  a  right  to  expect.     She  showed 


NAPOLEON    I.  763 

herself  at  the  theatre,  and  visited  certain  manufac- 
tories, where  she  ordered  lace  for  a  considerable 
amount.  The  Emperor  wished  to  surround  her  jour- 
ney to  Holland  with  considerable  splendour,  and  ex- 
pressed his  wish  that  the  Empress  should  show  herself 
everywhere  surrounded  by  a  brilliant  court.  As  for 
himself,  accompanied  by  only  a  small  suite,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Boulogne,  where  he  spent  three  days,  visiting 
the  little  coast  harbours,  inspecting  the  flotilla,  and  en- 
gaging it  with  some  English  cruisers  over  whom  he 
secured  a  victory.  From  Boulogne  Napoleon  went 
towards  Ostcnd  and  Breskens,  a  port  situated  opposite 
Flushing,  where  he  had  ordered  certain  works  to  be 
carried  out.  The  weather  was  detestable,  which  did 
not  prevent  the  Emperor  from  riding  part  of  the  way 
on  horseback.  He  explored  the  island  of  Cadzand, 
and  examined  its  forts  in  detail.  His  plan  was  to  visit 
one  by  one  the  thirty  vessels  of  the  fleet  at  Antwerp, 
a  review  which  would  have  benefited  the  fleet  in 
particular  and  the  navy  in  general.  With  this  purpose 
in  view  Napoleon  embarked  on  the  Charlonagne,  the 
admiral's  vessel,  on  which  Commander  Missiessy  had 
hoisted  his  standard.  He  was  accompanied  by  his 
Minister  of  Marine.  The  weather  was  fairly  fine,  but 
it  changed  during  the  night,  and  from  daybreak  a 
violent  storm  raged,  which  lasted  three  days  without 
diminishing  in  intensity.  The  equinoctial  winds  were 
so  strong  that  no  boat  could  be  put  to  sea.  The 
Emperor  was  accordingly  forced  to  remain  on  board 
the  Charlemagne  in  idleness,  without  being  able  to 
communicate  with  the  land.  He  took  advantage  of 
this  enforced  stay  to  examine  a  report  of  the  state 
of  the  fleet,  in  distributing  rewards  amongst  the  sailors, 
and,  armed  with  his  field-glasses,  in  contemplating 
the  spectacle  of  the  furious  waters,  whenever  he  was 
able  to  keep  his  legs  on  the  bridge  or  on  the  deck. 


764  MEMOIRS    OF 

Napoleon's  papers,  and  almost  all  his  clothes  were  on 
board  some  boats  and  a  yacht,  which  were  dispersed 
by  the  wind  into  various  ports  along  the  coast.  The 
pages  and  people  of  his  household,  who  were  in 
charge  of  these  boats,  were  driven  about  at  the 
mercy  of  the  winds  for  four  or  five  days,  without  be- 
ing able  to  reach  either  the  Emperor's  ship,  or  to  get 
back  to  land,  menaced  with  destruction  at  every 
moment.  Many  thought  of  writing  their  wills  without 
knowing  whether  these  documents  would  survive 
them. 

The  tempest  having  calmed  at  last,  and  the  sea 
having  somewhat  quieted,  the  Emperor  took  advantage 
of  this  circumstance  to  make  his  way  to  Flushing. 
He  spent  a  day  there  which  he  employed  in  inspecting 
the  immense  works  which  were  being  carried  out  by 
his  order,  given  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  English 
expedition.  The  object  of  these  works  was  to  enable 
the  armed  fleet  of  the  Escaut  to  enter  into  port,  so 
as  to  be  protected  against  hostile  attack.  Napoleon 
next  embarked  for  Antwerp,  sailing  up  the  river  and 
inspecting  in  turn  the  various  forts  which  lie  on  either 
bank.  He  arrived  at  Antwerp  in  the  night,  and  was 
joined  there  by  the  Empress  next  day.  During  a  stay 
of  four  days  in  this  city,  where  fetes  of  every  kind 
succeeded  each  other,  the  Emperor  did  not  remain 
inactive  for  a  single  minute.  His  attention  was 
entirely  taken  up  with  the  'city,  and  the  military, 
maritime,  and  commercial  establishments  which  his 
genius  for  organization  had  created  in  so  short  a  space 
of  time.  In  four  years  he  had  transformed  Antwerp 
into  a  new  city,  a  fortified  town  of  the  first  order, 
and  the  most  important  port  in  his  Empire.  Quays, 
piers,  canals,  harbour-basins,  docks  with  thirty  vessels 
in  process  of  construction,  unbroken  roads  from 
Flushing    to    Antwerp,    protected   by    lines    of    forts. 


NAPOLEON    I.  765 

where  one  hundred  vessels  could  find  shelter  in  case 
of  danger,  all  these  things  had  come  from  hands  which 
seemed  to  be  gifted  with  the  power  of  a  magician's 
wand. 

Napoleon  left  Antwerp  on  October  4th  at  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  stopped  at  Wilhelmstadt  and 
at  Helvoetsluis,  slept  in  his  yacht,  which  was  at 
anchor  near  the  island  of  Goree,  and  arrived  on  the 
following  day  at  Gorcum.  where  he  found  Marie 
Louise,  The  Archtreasurer,  governor-general  of  Hol- 
land, and  Marshal  Oudinot,  commanding  the  troops, 
who  had  both  come  to  meet  him,  were  there  also. 
The  Emperor  continued  his  journey  accompanied  by 
the  Empress  along  a  road  fringed  with  country  houses, 
each  more  elegant  and  better  kept  than  the  last.  He 
stopped  at  Utrecht.  Their  Majesties  were  received 
there  by  the  authorities,  and  by  an  immense  crowd  of 
people,  whom  neither  the  bad  weather  nor  the  dark- 
ness could  prevent  from  thronging  the  quays  and 
streets.  Before  entering  the  house  prepared  for  his 
reception,  Napoleon  got  on  horseback,  and  went  to 
review  the  troops,  in  spite  of  the  pouring  rain.  This 
circumstance  reminds  me  that,  during  a  review  which 
was  being  held  on  a  rainy  day.  Napoleon  saw  some 
generals  who  drew  aside  to  wrap  themselves  up  care- 
fully in  their  mantles.  Without  appearing  to  notice 
the  excessive  care  which  they  were  taking  of  their 
persons,  Napoleon  at  once  made  his  way  to  a  water- 
spout and  took  his  stand  close  to  it.  thus  giving  his 
generals  a  lesson  in  discipline  and  self-denial. 

On  returning  to  his  house  the  Emperor,  in  pursuance 
of  his  system  of  practical  education,  insisted — without 
taking  the  time  to  change  his  clothes — on  receiving 
the  authorities  of  the  town  who  had  come  to  await 
him  there.  Amongst  the  corporations  admitted  to  the 
audience  were  noticed  some  Jansenist  clericals  whose 


766  MEMOIRS    OF 

rupture  with  the  Court  of  Rome  had  recently  been 
accomplished. 

The  solemn  entry  of  the  imperial  couple  into  Amster- 
dam was  effected  on  October  9th.  The  Empress  was 
in  a  state-carriage,  gilded  and  fitted  with  eight 
windows.  A  guard  of  honour  composed  of  young  men 
belonging  to  the  best  families  in  the  town,  had  come  to 
meet  Their  Majesties.  The  Emperor  made  his  entry 
into  the  town  on  horseback  surrounded  by  a  brilliant 
staff.  On  that  day  the  Dutch  seemed  to  have  forgot- 
ten their  natural  stolidity  altogether. 

Their  Majesties  spent  a  fortnight  in  Amsterdam. 
The  Emperor  broke  his  stay  in  this  city  by  excur- 
sions to  the  Helder,  which  was  one  of  his  creations, 
to  Texel,  and  to  the  famous  dykes  at  Medemblik. 
Some  very  lofty  dykes  had  been  raised  on  this  point 
which  protected  the  country  against  the  waters  of  the 
Zuyder  Zee.  The  land  lies  lower  than  the  sea,  the 
waves  of  which  sometimes  reach  as  high  as  the  top 
of  the  dyke.  The  dykes  are  then  covered  over  with 
sails  to  break  the  force  of  the  waves  and  to  prevent 
them  from  overthrowing  the  ramparts  which  the  in- 
dustry of  the  inhabitants  had  raised.  During  one  of 
the  Emperor's  absences,  which  lasted  three  days,  the 
Empress  made  several  excursions  in  the  surroundings 
of  Amsterdam.  She  stopped,  notably,  at  the  village 
of  Broeck,  which  is  famed  as  being  the  best  model  of 
the  mincing  luxuriousness  and  excessive  cleanliness  of 
the  Dutch.  No  carriages  pass  through  the  streets, 
which  are  paved  with  tiles  imitating  flowers ;  but  an  ex- 
ception was  made  to  this  rule  in  favour  of  the  Em- 
press's carriage.  The  house  which  she  had  come  to 
visit  was  the  mayor's.  She  saw  the  state  rooms  there, 
which  are  only  opened  on  days  of  marriages,  christen- 
ings, and  funerals.  Except  on  these  three  solemn  oc- 
casions, the  apartment  is  kept  carefully  closed  up,  and 


NAPOLEON    I.  767 

even  the  three  steps  which  lead  up  to  the  door  are 
removed.  The  frontages  of  some  houses  are  covered 
with  white  sand  on  which  patterns  are  marked  out  in 
coloured  sand.  The  inside  of  these  houses  is  as  clean 
and  polished  as  the  outside.  Curtains  of  beautiful 
Chinese  silk  garnished  the  windows,  large  cupboards 
were  filled  with  rich  Japanese  porcelain.  No  traces  of 
any  inhabitants  were  to  be  seen,  nor  could  one  notice 
any  marks  of  usage  on  the  furniture.  These  houses 
appeared  to  have  been  placed  there  like  an  opera  stage 
scene  for  the  mere  pleasure  of  the  eyes.  There  are  in 
this  village,  or  rather  in  this  symmetrical  assemblage 
of  pleasure-houses,  of  which  Nuremberg  toys  are  the 
miniature,  neither  barns,  nor  lofts,  nor  stables,  nor 
cow-houses,  nor  kitchens.  Whatever  of  animals  or 
even  intellectual  life  there  may  be  is  placed  outside  the 
limits  of  the  village.  The  people  sleep  and  eat  no  doubt 
hidden  from  all  eyes  for-  one  cannot  admit  that  these 
houses  are  only  used  as  the  dwelling-places  of  spirits. 

The  Mayor  or  Burgomaster  thought  he  was  giving 
the  Empress  no  mean  mark  of  his  respect  in  breaking 
for  her  the  rules  which  he  obeyed  himself.  The  entry 
into  one  of  these  houses  had  even  been,  on  one  occasion, 
refused  to  Hortense,  Queen  of  Holland,  and  the  King 
had  approved  of  this  because  she  had  not  announced 
her  visit  in  advance.  The  owners  were  all  millionaires, 
and  had  always  been  carefully  treated  because  they 
were  the  pillars  of  Dutch  commerce.  Even  during  the 
revolution  no  troops  were  billeted  upon  them,  nor 
were  they  forced  to  do  any  personal  service.  These 
Republicans,  in  consequence,  are  very  proud,  and  make 
no  exceptions  of  persons  nor  of  ranks. 

Another  township  of  celebrated  name  is  Saardam, 
where  the  Czar,  Peter  the  Great,  passed  several  months 
to  study  the  art  of  ship-building.  This  township,  al- 
though this  name  is  no  more  applicable  to  Saardam 


768  MEMOIRS    OF 

than  to  Broeck,  consists  of  a  succession  of  houses 
where  modern  luxury  is  combined  with  the  most  rare 
antiquities,  and  that  refined  cleanhness  which  is  the 
mania  of  the  Dutch.  These  houses  cover  a  space  of 
nearly  three  quarters  of  a  league.  Saardam,  like 
Broek,  is  inhabited  by  merchants  who  have  grown 
rich  in  the  Indian  and  China  trade ;  but  what  especially 
attracts  the  attention  of  the  curious  there  is  a  poor  hut 
♦  of  two  rooms,  made  of  planks,  lacking  the  comforts  of 
life,  without  either  court-yard  or  loft,  and  altogether 
much  resembling  a  barn.  The  camp  bedstead,  on 
which  Peter  the  Great  slept,  is  kept  there.  The  bare 
walls  are  covered  with  inscriptions  in  honour  of  this 
monarch,  who  was  great  even  in  his  eccentricites. 
There  are  in  a  cupboard,  in  which  he  put  his  clothes 
and  provisions,  two  large  volumes,  pages  of  which  are 
covered  with  the  names  of  strangers  who  have  come  to 
visit  this  abode,  and  who  remained  struck  with  the 
contrast  between  the  power  of  the  great  prince  who 
inhabited  it  and  the  humble  condition  which  he  as- 
sumed. Napoleon,  in  honour  of  Peter  the  Great, 
raised  Saardam  to  the  rank  of  a  town. 

The  journey  in  Holland  was  very  brilliant.  The 
Emperor  was  followed  by  his  orders  by  a  large  court, 
and  by  many  of  his  ministers.  Talma,  Damas,  Made- 
moiselle Bourgoin,  and  -part  of  the  Theatre  Frangais 
had  been  sent  for  to  give  performances.  The  dramatic 
poet  Chazet,  during  this  journey,  gave  a  performance 
of  a  piece  "  The  Saardam  Workshop  "  which  he  had 
written. 

The  Dutch  were  much  pleased  with  the  Empress 
Marie  Louise.  Her  simple  and  affable  manners  ap- 
pealed to  the  Dutch  good  nature.  I  do  not  know 
whether  the  love  of  novelty,  or  rather  the  prestige  of 
Napoleon's  great  name  influenced  the  Dutch.  The 
reception  which  they  everywhere  awarded  to  the  Em- 


NAPOLEON    I.  769 

peror  and  Empress  was  such  as  to  make  one  think  that 
the  annexation  of  their  country  to  France  was  ap- 
proved of  by  them  all. 

The  Emperor  allowed  no  day  to  pass  without  going 
out  with  no  otlier  escort  than  the  guard  of  honour  of 
the  town,  either  to  make  excursions  to  the  military 
and  naval  stations  in  the  surroundings  of  Amsterdam, 
or  to  visit  the  manufactories,  docks,  harbour,  arsenal, 
vessels,  flotilla,  or  to  hold  reviews.  He  received  all 
the  authorities  in  audience,  conversed  with  each  man 
on  his  special  subject,  asking  questions  about  the 
various  localities,  the  rules  of  government,  the  state 
of  mind  of  the  inhabitants,  the  material  and  moral 
condition  of  the  country,  its  customs,  and  so  on.  From 
these  conversations,  from  his  own  observation.  Napo- 
leon with  that  prompt  and  subtle  penetration  which  has 
never  been  equalled,  acquired  exact  notions  of  every- 
thing which  attracted  his  attention.  He  settled  the 
question  of  public  instruction  in  Holland  by  a  decree. 
Imperial  Universities  were  established  in  the  cities  of 
Leyden  and  Groningen ;  public  schools  were  established, 
in  both  these  cities  and  in  Utrecht;  secondary  schools 
were  granted  to  every  town  in  Holland.  It  was  at 
Amsterdam  that  the  Emperor  created  the  order  of  La 
Reunion.  This  order,  like  that  of  the  Legion  of 
Honour,  was  intended  to  recompense  civil  and  military 
services,  and  remained  more  especially  affected  to  the 
cities  annexed  by  the  Empire.  Napoleon  argued  with 
the  Governor-General  and  with  the  indefatigable  M. 
Daru,  Minister  Secretary  of  State,  in  what  way  he 
could  remedy  the  evil  results  of  the  suspension  of 
maritime  trade  which  were  being  felt  by  the  Dutch. 
He  manifested  the  greatest  benevolence  towards  them, 
was  present  at  all  the  fetes  given  in  his  honour,  speak- 
ing to  each  man  on  the  subjects  which  most  concerned 
him,   remembering  everybody   with   the  amenity  and 


770  MEMOIRS    OF 

good  grace  which  he  knew  how  to  display,  and  in 
which  it  must  be  said  that  he  was  marvellously 
seconded  by  the  Empress. 

The  Emperor   left   Amsterdam   very   well  pleased 
with  the  reception  which  had  been  awarded  to  him  in 
this  great  city,  the  hopes  of  which  had  been  revived 
by  his  solicitude,  his  kind  nature,  and  his  assurances  so 
full  of  future  promise.     He  had  come  to  Holland  with 
but  little  sympathy  for  its  inhabitants,  perhaps  because 
he  had  been  told  that  they  were  hostile  toward  him. 
His  feelings  about  them  were  changed  as  soon  as  he 
had  come  into  contact  with   them.     He  even  got  a 
decided  liking   for  their  character,   to  the  extent  of 
almost  excusing  his  brother,  Louis,  for  the  partiality 
which  the  latter  had  shown  them.     Generally  speaking 
the  morality  and  the  orderly  spirit  of  the  Dutch  pleased 
Napoleon,  who'  sincerely  desired  their  prosperity,  and 
who  took  an  interest  in  the  memories  of  their  glorious 
past.     He  stayed  some  hours  at  Haarlem,  which  is  a 
half  Gothic,  half  Chinese  city  formerly  celebrated  for 
the  romantic  passion  of  its  inhabitants  for  tulips  and 
flowers.     In  passing  he  visited  Cattvick  lock  and  went 
to  sleep  at  the  Hague.     Napoleon  did  not  linger  in 
this  ancient  residence  of  the  Stadtholders,  where  there 
was    nothing    in   particular   to    attract   his    attention. 
Rotterdam  interested  him  more.     He  spent  two  days 
there  receiving  the  authorities  and  the  people  and  in 
long  and  frequent  conversations  with  the  local  func- 
tionaries on  the  best  means  of  alleviating  the  distress 
in  trade ;  in  visiting  the  arsenals  and  the  harbour, 
which  is  the  finest  and  most  convenient  in  Holland; 
and  applied  to  the  interests  of  this  important  city  the 
resources  and  benefits  of  his  fruitful  activity.     Napo- 
leon left  Rotterdam   rather  earlier  than  he  had   in- 
tended to  do  in  making  out  the  plans  of  his  journey, 
being  anxious  to  hasten  his  return  to  Paris.     The  rain. 


3 


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NAPOLEON    I.  771 

which  announced  the  early  approach  of  the  bad 
weather,  rendered  the  journey,  in  a  country  whicli  is 
cut  up  by  canals  and  niarslies,  a  laborious  one.  The 
weather,  indeed,  became  horrible,  and  gave  this  country 
the  saddest  of  aspects.  Napoleon  also  feared  the  in- 
fluence of  the  damp  air  on  the  Empress's  health.  He 
accordingly  left  Rotterdam  on  October  27th,  for  the 
Palace  of  Loo,  passing  through  L'trecht.  Marie 
Louise  remained  at  Loo  during  the  Emperor's  excur- 
sion to  Zwoll,  an  important  fortified  place,  which  is 
rendered  very  strong  by  its  advantageous  position  on 
the  Aa  and  tlie  Issel,  the  waters  of  which  fill  a  double 
moat.  Placed  on  a  height,  which  commands  the  sur- 
rounding country,  this  city  takes  pride  in  having  given 
birth  to  the  author  to  whom  it  attributes  the  book  the 
"  Imitation  of  Christ  " — namely,  Thomas  a  Kempis, 
whose  memory  is  as  much  venerated  as  the  name  of 
Erasmus  is  respected  in  Rotterdam  where  a  bronze 
statute  has  been  raised  to  this  savant  in  the  market 
place. 

The  Emperor  returned  to  the  Palace  of  Loo  and  left 
it  on  the  following  day  with  the  Empress  for  Nime- 
guen.  He  was  anxious  to  visit  the  Grand-Duchy  of 
Berg,  which  he  had  bestowed  on  the  eldest  son  of  his 
brother  King  Louis,  but  before  proceeding  to  Diissel- 
dorf.  the  capital  of  the  Grand-Duchy,  he  went  to 
Wesel,  where  he  stayed  one  day.  The  Empress  left 
Nimeguen  at  the  same  time  as  the  Emperor,  and  went 
to  pass  the  night  at  the  castle  of  Ottenl)erg,  near  Xan- 
ten,  and  arrived  at  Diisseldorf  on  November  ist. 
Napoleon  had  joined  her  there  on  the  following  day. 
After  a  stay  of  two  days,  which  were  taken  up  witli  the 
cares  of  government,  and  the  receptions  and  fetes 
which  the  cities  offered  to  Their  .Majesties,  they  re- 
turned to  France  via  Cologne,  and  made  their  way 
by    Liege,    Givet,    Mczieres,    and    Compiegne.       On 

L — McmoirH  ^  "^'l-  " 


yy2  MEMOIRS   OF 

November  nth  Napoleon  and  Marie  Louise  were 
back  again  at  St.  Cloud,  after  an  absence  of  three 
months,  the  longest  absence  which  the  Emperor  had 
made  in  the  provinces  of  old  or  new  France.  Where- 
ever  he  halted  during  his  journey.  Napoleon  applied 
his  vigilant  attention  to  the  most  minute  details  of 
government,  public  works,  public  debts,  trade,  manu- 
factures, finances,  and  to  the  country's  means  of 
defence ;  repelling  abuses,  dealing  out  impartial  justice 
to  all,  rewarding  services  and  talents,  occupying  him- 
self in  procuring  for  the  inhabitants  all  the  prosperity 
which  the  difficulty  of  the  circumstances  in  which  they 
were  placed  allowed  of,  and  straining  all  the  tendons 
of  his  genius  to  assure  and  increase  their  prosperity  in 
the  future. 

In  considering  the  annexations  by  force  to  the 
Empire  on  which  has  been  based  the  accusation  of 
unbridled  ambition  made  against  Napoleon — an  accu- 
sation which  the  coalition  took  so  much  pains  to  ac- 
credit— a  reflection,  rendered  all  the  more  striking  by 
the  journey  in  Holland,  presents  itself,  however,  to 
the  mind.  It  is  suggested  by  the  way  in  which  Na- 
poleon acted  towards  these  people. 

The  necessity  of  drawing  in  the  circle  in  which  he 
is  bound  to  enclose  England  leads  him  to  incorporate 
into  the  Empire,  for  the  most  part  only  temporarily, 
countries  which  serve  as  places  of  refuge  or  of  pro- 
tection to  commerce,  and  which  are  either  unable  or 
unwilling  to  protect  themselves.  At  the  same  time 
he  does  not  use  these  countries  exclusively  for  the 
greatness  and  domination  of  France.  On  the  contrary, 
his  best  endeavours  are  applied,  with  indefatigable 
zeal,  towards  finding  the  best  ways  of  relieving  them, 
and  each  step  he  takes  is  marked  by  some  measure  of 
benefit  to  their  interests.  In  combining  their  re- 
sources with  those  of  the  Empire  for  the  kind  of  war 


NAPOLEON    I.  7 


/a 


which  he  is  waging  upon  England,  the  only  means 
of  securing  lasting  peace,  he  allows  them  to  partici- 
pate in  the  advantages  of  the  French  protectorate. 
He  attends  to  the  repression  of  abuses  and  to  the 
care  of  their  interests  with  as  much  solicitude  as  for 
France.  He  summons  to  his  councils,  to  the  national 
representation,  to  various  posts  in  the  law-courts  and 
in  the  government,  the  most  distinguished  men,  to 
guide  him  with  their  lights  and  to  be  to  him  the 
advocates  and  the  patrons  of  their  country.  And 
finally  Napoleon  only  makes  his  appearance  in  the 
districts  annexed  to  France  to  bestow  upon  them  the 
advantages  of  his  codes,  of  a  skilful  government,  and 
a  more  developed  industry,  as  though  to  plant  in  the 
breast  of  the  people  the  seeds  of  a  prosperity  which 
the  future  will  take  care  to  develop. 

I  have  not  yet  spoken  of  the  various  people  who 
used  to  write  to  Napoleon  during  the  Consulate  and 
the  Empire.  M.  Fievee  was  one  of  Napoleon's  oldest 
and  most  important  correspondents.  He  had  been 
introduced  to  Napoleon,  at  that  time  First  Consul,  by 
M.  Roederer.  This  writer  was  already  known  by 
certain  literary  successes  and  by  his  political  acts  and 
writings.  Napoleon  had  charged  him  with  a  mission 
to  England  in  1802.  I  will  not  speak  of  the  reports 
which  M.  Ficvec  addressed  to  Na])oleon,  as  }il.  Ficvce 
has  taken  the  public  into  his  confidence  in  this  matter 
himself.  His  correspondence  with  Napoleon,  both  as 
I'irst  Consul  and  as  Emperor,  was  printed  in  1837. 
If  the  spirit  or  the  letter  of  these  notes,  published 
thirtv  years  after  thcv  were  written,  and  at  a  time  so 
different,  has  been  modified  in  some  way,  these  ukkH- 
lications  have  been  so  slight  that  they  can  neither  be 
recognized  nor  pointed  out.  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
that  as  a  whole  the  reproduction  may  be  considered 
a  faithful  one. 


774  MEMOIRS    OF 

M.  Desrenaudes,  former  grand  vicar  to  the  bishop 
of  Autun,  when  M.  de  Talleyrand  held  that  see,  a 
friend  of  this  minister  and  long  employed  in  his  cabi- 
net, was  amongst  the  persons  who  were  allowed  to 
write  to  Napoleon  on  questions  of  internal  govern- 
ment; excursions  into  the  domain  of  politics  being 
forbidden.  M.  Desrenaudes  was  successively  member 
of  the  Tribunate,  archivist  to  the  Council  of  State, 
councillor  of  the  University,  and  censor. 

A  man  who  had  made  an  abominable  use  of  his 
talents,  and  who  never  wearied  of  offering  his  services 
to  the  imperial  Government,  attracted  Napoleon's 
attention :  this  was  Barrere.  This  man,  born,  it  is 
said,  with  a  gentle  disposition,  and  even  with  private 
virtues,  but  whom  fear  had  transformed  into  a  man 
of  blood,  had  been  authorized  to  return  to  France  by 
favour  of  a  law  of  the  year  VIII  which  allowed  the 
recall  of  the  exiles.  Barrere  had  tried  to  render  him- 
self agreeable  to  the  new  power,  and  to  succeed  had 
considered  no  means,  even  the  act  of  informer,  repug- 
nant. This  person,  although  justly  held  in  bad  repute, 
had  been  presented  by  his  departments,  at  the  time  of 
the  establishment  of  the  Empire,  as  a  candidate  to  the 
Legislative  body,  but  the  Senate  had  unanimously  re- 
jected this  candidature.  In  such  a  case  Napoleon 
could  not  act  on  the  maxim  which  he  had  adopted  of 
calling  to  his  service  everybody  likely  to  be  of  use  to 
him,  and  give  employment  to  a  man  whose  notoriety 
was  such  as  to  exclude  him  from  public  functions. 
The  Emperor,  being  unable  to  reply  favourably  to  the 
importunities  of  this  discredited  former  member  of 
the  Convention,  contented  himself  with  authorizing 
him  to  send  periodical  reports  to  the  Tuileries  on  the 
state  of  public  opinion,  on  administrative  matters, 
and  on  his  old  companions  in  exile.  Napoleon  found 
nothing  in  these  reports  but  the  hollow  phraseology  of 


NAPOLEON    I. 


//o 


the  members  of  the  committee  of  PubHc  Safety  at 
the  Convention.  Barrcre's  despatches,  which  began 
in  1803.  lasted  three  years  after  Napoleon's  accession 
to  the  throne.  But  the  Emperor,  tired  of  finding 
neither  useful  expressions  of  opinion,  nor  revelations 
of  any  value  in  these  reports,  which  were  only  filled 
with  words  of  fiattery  and  vulgar  denunciations,  put 
a  stop  to  this  insipid  correspondence.  Then,  opining 
that  Barrere's  talents  as  a  writer,  might  be  profitably 
employed  in  the  editorship  of  some  newspaper,  he  had 
the  idea  of  placing  him  at  the  head  of  a  paper  which 
took  the  significant  name  of  The  Anti-British  Me- 
morial, and  in  faxour  of  which  I  was  ordered  to  pay 
Barrere  five  huntlred  francs  a  month.  This  pubHca- 
tion  was  not  successful.  Napoleon  was  dissatisfied 
with  his  articles,  finding  in  them  nothing  but  empty 
tirades,  arguments  without  any  solidity,  and  often,  as 
he  used  to  say,  stupidities  covered  over  with  sonorous 
phrases.  He  ceased  to  take  an  interest  in  a  man  for 
whom,  moreover,  he  could  not  have  had  any  kind  of 
esteem.  I  believe  that  Barrere  afterwards  wrote  on 
the  staff  of  The  Argus,  a  paper  written  in  the  same 
spirit  as  The  Anti-British  Memorial,  and  which  de- 
rived its  ins])i ration  from  the  offices  of  the  ministry  of 
Foreign  Affairs.  M.  Andre  d'Arbclles,  the  historio- 
grapher of  this  ministry  and  M.  Lesur,  author  of  the 
Annual  of  Universal  History,  a  collection  of  very  se- 
rious interest  to  history,  presided  over  the  editorial  de- 
partment of  this  newspaper. 

Napoleon's  short  intercourse  with  Barrere  put  me 
into  correspondence  with  the  latter.  I  had  no  oppor- 
tunity of  making  his  personal  accpiaintance,  and  only 
communicated  with  him  by  letter.  He  thought  fit  to 
offer  me  his  academical  eulogy  of  Louis  XII.,  a 
panegyric  in  which  he  preached  "  the  advantages  of  a 
monarchical  government  and  the  fidelity  of  the  people 


776  MEMOIRS    OF 

to  its  kings,  the  distinctive  characteristic  of  the 
French  people,"  sentiments  which  the  author,  for  his 
part,  had  so  cruelly  repudiated. 

Nobody  will  be  surprised  when  I  add  that  Barrere 
found  in  1814,  181 5,  and  1830,  successive  occasions 
for  apostasy. 

Goldsmith,  an  English  Jew,  translator  of  the  ar- 
ticles of  The  Argus,  which  had  been  written  by  MM. 
Lesur,  Andre  d'Arbelles,  and  others,  had  also  his 
share  in  Napoleon's  liberalities.  He  also  worked  on 
The  Anti-British  Memorial,  but  there  was  no  soli- 
darity between  him  and  Barrere.  This  libeller,  who 
had  fled  from  England  to  the  Continent,  had  come  to 
offer  his  pen  to  the  French  Government.  After  hav- 
ing lost  all  credit  with  this  government,  and  after  the 
Treaty  of  Amiens  had  rendered  the  existence  of  pa- 
pers hostile  to  England  no  longer  necessary.  Gold- 
smith lost  his  means  of  existence.  He  then  tried  to 
return  home,  and  was  allowed  to  return  to  London. 
Pretending  to  know  the  secrets  of  the  French  gov- 
ernment, this  fellow  was  bought  over  by  Pitt.  The 
price  of  Goldsmith's  return  to  favour  was  the  pub- 
lication of  the  "  Secret  History  of  the  Cabinet  of  St 
Cloud,"  a  tissue  of  lies  and  calumnies,  which,  how- 
ever, the  government  of  the  Restoration  ordered  to 
be  translated  and  published  with  additions.  Goldsmith 
also  became  editor  of  two  newspapers  in  England, 
The  Anti-Gallican  and  The  Anti-C orsican  Chronicles, 
which  were  the  counterpart  of  The  Anti-British  Me- 
morial. This  latter  newspaper  attacked  the  policy  of 
the  British  government,  whilst  Goldsmith's  papers 
openly  preached  the  murder  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 
In  this  respect  they  were  unfortunately  the  organ  of 
certain  princes  of  the  House  of  Bourbon  and  of  the 
principal  members  of  the  French  exile  party.  The 
publication   of  the   "  History  of  the   Cabinet   of   St. 


NAPOLEON    I.  -jy-j 

Cloud."  of  The  Anti-Gallican  and  The  Antl-Corsican 
Chronicles,  opposed  to  his  collaboration  on  The  Argus 
and  The  Anti-British  Memorial  have  given  a  sad  and 
but  little  enviable  celebrity  to  the  memory  of  Gold- 
smith, that  double-faced  pamphleteer. 

M.  M.  J.  Rocques  de  Montg-aillard,  of  whom  I  have 
spoken  elsewhere,  also  lent  the  assistance  of  his  pen 
to  the  founder  of  the  imperial  regime,  but  that  in  no 
very  disinterested  manner. 

Madame  de  Genlis  used  also  to  address  periodical 
reports  to  the  Emperor.  This  lady,  on  her  return 
from  exile,  had  found  herself  like  many  other  honour- 
able exiles,  in  a  state  of  destitution.  The  Minister 
of  the  Interior,  M.  Chaptal,  gave  her  an  apartment 
in  the  buildings  of  the  Arsenal  library.  Madame  de 
Genlis  lived  there  on  the  income  produced  by  her 
numerous  books,  and  some  assistance  which  she  re- 
ceived from  the  funds  reserved  for  literary  people. 
When  Napoleon  became  Emperor  he  ordered  Lava- 
lette  to  pay  her  five  hundred  francs  a  month,  and,  in 
order  to  spare  her  feelings,  had  her  told  that  he  wished 
her  to  write  to  him  every  fortnight  on  matters  of  lit- 
erature and  morality.  The  help  which  Madame  de 
Genlis  received  from  Napoleon's  generosity,  the  help 
which  was  afterwards  extended  to  her  by  Queen 
Julia  of  Naples,  and  the  resources  produced  from  the 
sale  of  her  works,  did  not  prevent  her  from  being  in- 
variably in  embarrassed  circumstances.  She  used  to 
apply  to  me  when  she  wanted  some  advance  on  the 
income  allowed  her  by  the  Emperor,  and  at  such 
times  would  beg  M.  Sabatier  de  Castres,  whom  I 
used  to  meet  at  the  house  of  a  mutual  friend,  to  men- 
tion the  matter  to  me.  This  woman  of  letters,  who 
was  prodigiously  vain,  has  published  "  Memoirs,"  in 
which  very  good  measure,  in  ])()int  of  quantity,  has 
been  dealt  out  to  the  subscribers  to  this  work,  in  which 


778  MEMOIRS    OF 

she  relates  the  adventures  of  her  long  career.    In  this 
book  she  shows  herself  faithful  to  her  antipathies  as 
to  her  sympathies,  but  the  goodwill  and  the  precise- 
ness  of  her  recollections  are  unfortunately  too  often 
in  direct  proportion  to  the  good  or  bad  fortune  of  the 
persons  she  writes  about.  A  circumstance  relating  to 
the  imperial  family — amongst  other  examples  which 
I  might  quote — prompts  me  to  make  this  remark,  and 
to  point  out  to  what  an  extent,  at  times,  the  authoress's 
memory  used  to  fail  her.     M.  Sabatier,  whose  name 
I  have  just  mentioned,  had  introduced   Madame  de 
Genlis  to  the  virtuous  Julia  Bonaparte,  at  that  time 
Queen  of  Naples,  and  had  advised  his  friend  at  the 
same  time  to  ask  to  be  allowed  to  take  charge  of  the 
education    of   the   Queen's    daughters.      Madame    de 
Genlis,  who  thought  herself  born  with  the  vocation 
for  teaching  and  guiding  her  neighbour  by  inculcating 
her  opinions  and  principles,  had  jumped  at  this  idea. 
She  wrote  in  consequence  to  the  Emperor  to  obtain 
his  consent  in  the  matter.     This  application  was  con- 
tained in  her  fortnightly  paper,  and  was  accompanied 
by  protestations  of  gratitude  and  the  expression  of 
her  wish  to  show  her  gratitude  for  the  kindness  of 
the  august  head  of  the  family,  by  assiduous  attention 
in  carrying  out  the  duties  which  such  a  post  would  im- 
pose.    But  this  letter  was  not  answered,  and  Napo- 
leon, on  the  contrary,  told  his  sister-in-law  that  such  a 
choice  would  displease  him.     The  Queen  on  her  side 
had  far  too  much  tact  to  wish  to  put  her  neck  into 
such  a  yoke.     She  also  knew  that  King  Joseph  would 
be  very  reluctant  to  give  his  consent.     This  considera- 
tion  would   have   sufficed   to   hold   the   Queen  back, 
even  if  she  could  have  made  up  her  mind  to  entrust 
the  education  of  her  daughters  to  a  woman  of  admit- 
ted talents,   no  doubt,  but  who  was  totally  unfitted 
for  such  a  post  by  associations  and  prejudices  which 


NAPOLEON    1.  779 

were  incompatible  with  the  new  imperial  government. 
To  console  Madame  de  Genlis  for  die  Emperor's  refu- 
sal, Queen  Julia,  with  that  feeling  of  goodness  and 
generosity  which  characterized  her,  accorded  her  a 
pension  of  three  thousand  francs  from  her  private 
purse.  No  allusion,  as  far  as  I  know,  to  this  act  of 
kindness,  is  contained  in  the  memoirs  of  the  woman 
who  benefited  by  it. 

Let  us  return  to  the  Emperor's  oUier  correspon- 
dents, who  have  been  forgotten  during  this  digres- 
sion. 

Doctor  Corvisart  had  proposed  M.  Lemaire,  Pro- 
fessor of  Latin  Poetry  at  the  Paris  Academy,  to  Na- 
poleon, as  correspondent,  and  he  had  been  accepted. 
This  professor  had  drawn  attention  to  himself  during 
his  lectures,  by  an  ingenious  application  of  certain  pass- 
ages in  Virgil's  poems  to  the  eulogy  of  the  Head  of 
the  Government.  Napoleon,  having  noticed  in  some 
of  the  notes  sent  in  by  M.  Lemaire  personalities  mixed 
up  with  general  observations  on  literature  and  literary 
people,  ordered  him  to  cease  writing  to  him.  The 
Emperor,  as  a  general  rule,  forbade  his  correspondents 
to  speak  of  persons,  wishing  them  to  speak  of  matters 
alone. 

M.  de  Montlosier,  formerly  deputy  at  the  national 
assembly,  where  he  sat  on  the  right,  who  did  not  take 
pains  to  soften  down  the  rigidity  of  his  monarchical 
principles  by  conciliatory  expressions,  was  also  al- 
lowed to  expound  to  the  Emperor  in  a  series  of  notes 
his  political,  administrative,  and  even  religious  plans. 
He  afterwards  received  an  order  to  write  a  book  on 
the  French  Monarchy.  I  saw  the  manuscript  of  this 
book  a  long  time  in  Napoleon's  study.  The  multi- 
plicity of  the  Emperor's  occupations  had  prevented  him 
from  reading  it,  and  at  last  he  charged  a  commission 
to  read  it.    The  opinion  of  this  commission,  although 


78o  MEMOIRS    OF 

it  was  favourable  to  the  work  on  the  whole,  thought 
that  its  publication  would  be  untimely.  The  author 
has  published  it  since  the  Restoration  with  explana- 
tory notes. 

These  correspondents  were  more  or  less  remuner- 
ated. On  the  average  the  pay  given  for  this  kind  of 
work  was  £20  a  month. 

M.  de  Dampmartin,  a  retired  Major-General,  and 
a  member  of  the  Legislature,  author  of  several  his- 
torical and  literary  works,  became  one  of  the  non-re- 
munerated correspondents  of  the  Emperor  by  my  in- 
termediary, during  the  years  1813  and  18 14. 

Another  correspondent  who  was  totally  disinter- 
ested, continued  writing  to  Napoleon  from  1800  to 
1814.  His  letters,  written  with  independence  and 
measure,  were  not  particularly  brilliant,  and  dealt 
with  the  various  acts  of  his  government.  I  will  not 
betray — as  he  has  not  done  so  himself — the  incog- 
nito of  the  author  of  these  letters,  who  was  referen- 
dary to  the  Audit  Office,  and  who  hid  himself  under 
the  pseudonym  of  "  Heleodore."  This  anonymous 
writer  published  his  correspondence  in  1833  under 
the  title  of  "  Letters  of  Heleodore  addressed  to  Na- 
poleon Bonaparte,  from  March  1st,  1800,  to  March 
lyth,  1814." 

In  speaking  of  the  persons  who  addressed  letters  or 
reports  to  the  Emperor  I  have  made  use  of  the  word 
"correspondent,"  because  I  could  not  find  a  better 
expression,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  Napoleon  never 
answered  these  communications. 

I  had  been  created  Baron  of  the  Empire  in  1809, 
and  provided  with  an  endowment  in  the  ancient  pro- 
vince of  Brabant.  In  181 1,  I  was  appointed  Maitre 
des  Requites  of  the  Council  of  State,  and  had  re- 
ceived an  increase  of  endowment.  I  had  been  suc- 
cessively  nominated    "  Knight,"    and   then    "Officer " 


NAPOLEON    I.  781 

of  the  "Legion  of  Honour,"  and  finally  "Knight  of 
the  Iron  Crown,"  at  the  time  when  this  Order  was 
created.  The  sovereigns  who  followed  each  otlier  on 
the  throne  of  Naples  were  kind  enough  to  wish  to 
decorate  me  with  their  Orders;  but  although  one  was 
a  brotlier  and  the  other  the  brother-in-law  of  the  Em- 
peror, I  respectfully  refused,  with  the  Emperor's  ap- 
proval, all  the  distinctions  which  they  had  been  good 
enough  to  wish  to  confer  upon  me.  I  did  violence  to 
the  feelings  wiiich  made  me  attach  great  value  to  the 
proof  of  esteem  which  these  sovereigns,  for  whom  I 
had  as  much  affection  as  respect,  wished  to  award  to 
me;  but  I  thought  that  in  my  capacity  as  secretary 
to  the  Emperor  1  must  be  absolutely  independent  of 
everybody  but  himself;  and  that  though  I  was  not 
the  wife  of  Caesar  I  must  be  above  all  suspicion.  The 
Emperor  approving  these  scruples,  thought  that  I 
could  only  wear  the  two  Orders  of  which  he  was  the 
head :  the  decoration  of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  and 
that  of  the  Crown  of  Iron,  with  which  he  had  deigned 
to  honour  me. 

When  the  birth  of  an  heir  seemed  to  have  seated 
Napoleon's  power  on  unshakable  foundations,  at  a 
time  when  a  free  and  glorious  career  opened  itself  out 
to  his  creative  genius — a  genius  as  wonderful  in  the 
works  of  peace  as  in  the  manoeuvres  of  war — whilst 
under  the  shelter  of  a  prosperity,  the  splendour  of 
which  shed  its  rays  on  the  extremest  points  of  the 
Empire,  he  was  preparing  the  success  of  able  meas- 
ures which  were  to  deal  a  death-blow  to  England,  and 
to  assure  the  peace  of  the  world,  the  coalition — that 
Hydra  with  its  hundred  heads — which  ever  grew 
again,  was  not  remaining  inactive,  and  was  conspir- 
ing against  her  conqueror.  She  kept  stirring  up  the 
ever  restless  ambition  of  .Mcxander,  she  excited  the 
high   aristocracy   of   St.    Petersburg   against   France, 


782  MEMOIRS    OF 

and,  in  one  word,  was  sowing  between  the  two  allies 
the  seeds  of  a  misunderstanding  which,  though  they 
had  not  yet  germinated,  were  gradually  growing  in  the 
secrecy  of  diplomatic  negotiations.  These  intrigues 
and  these  underground  conspiracies  were  soon  to 
cause  war  to  break  out. 

Napoleon,  faithful  to  the  system  of  the  alliance 
which  had  been  contracted  at  Tilsitt,  was  pursuing  his 
great  design  of  forcing  England  to  peace.  Amongst 
the  means  which  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  use  to 
attain  his  object  some,  it  is  true,  clashed  with  Rus- 
sian interests ;  but  what  maritime  power  in  Europe 
did  not  suffer  by  them  ?  Napoleon  could  not  abandon 
the  continental  system,  the  effects  of  which  were  be- 
ginning to  be  cruelly  felt  in  England  where  the  dis- 
tress of  manufacturing  classes  had  become  extreme. 
The  closing  up  of  the  last  markets  which  were  opened 
to  English  produce,  which  heaped  itself  up  in  the 
English  warehouses,  reduced  the  working  classes  to 
misery  and  to  revolt,  and  this  distress  reacted  on  the 
public  fortune  of  England.  Napoleon  was  studying 
the  best  ways  of  diminishing  the  damage  caused  to 
Russia  by  the  execution  of  the  blockade  system; 
he  was  seeking  to  smooth  over  the  difficulties  and 
to  reassure  the  Emperor  Alexander.  The  Emperor's 
marriage  with  Marie  Louise  must  have  made  the 
Czar  imagine  that  the  policy  of  France  had  taken 
another  turn.  Napoleon's  mental  reservation,  of  re- 
establishing the  Kingdom  of  Poland,  was  in  Alexan- 
der's eyes  a  spectre  always  full  of  menace. 

Counting  for  little  the  great  advantages  which  he 
had  gained  at  Tilsitt,  and  not  hoping  for  any  more, 
the  Czar  had  once  more  become  accessible  to  the  se- 
ductions of  England.  Alexander  wilfully  exaggerated 
his  reasons  for  discontent,  and  rejected  all  Napoleon's 
proposals  for  an  arrangement,  and  all  offers  of  com- 


NAPOLEON    1.  yST, 

pensation.  Russia  was  secretly  preparing  for  war,  and 
her  sovereign  denied  this  when  he  was  asked  to 
explain  what  the  arming  meant.  He  nevertheless 
kept  on  assembling  troops  and  accumulating  stores, 
adopted  measures  which  were  prejudicial  to  French 
commerce,  and  finally  let  loose  his  bad  temper  on  the 
French  ambassador  at  St.  Petersburg.  The  Due  de 
Vicence,  who  had  long  been  the  object  of  the  Em- 
peror Alexander's  kindest  attentions,  suddenly  saw 
coolness  and  repugnance  succeed  to  confidence  and 
the  charm  of  the  most  intimate  intercourse. 

The  Due  de  Vicence,  accustomed  to  the  goodwill 
of  a  prince  who,  affecting  all  the  outward  signs  of 
friendship,  forgot  his  rank  in  his  presence,  could  not 
support  the  great  change  which  had  taken  place  in  his 
personal  position.  Persuaded  that  it  was  no  longer  in 
his  power  to  maintain  the  friendly  relations  which  till 
then  had  existed  between  the  Russian  sovereign 
and  himself,  he  asked  to  be  recalled.  Napoleon  agreed, 
giving  the  Emperor  Alexander  a  proof  of  his  respect 
in  leaving  to  him  the  choice  of  the  envoy  to  replace 
General  Caulaincourt,  who  would  be  most  agreeable 
to  him,  and  mentioning  the  names  of  MM.  de  La 
Rochefoucauld,  Narbonne,  and  Lauriston.  Napoleon 
ordered  the  Due  de  Vicence  to  declare  once  more, 
before  lea\ing  St.  Petersburg,  that  his  policy  had  not 
changed,  that  he  persisted  in  the  alliance,  and  that  he 
oflFered  any  and  every  indemnity  which  should  be 
really  equivalent  to  the  Duchy  of  Oldenburg,  which 
he  had  been  absolutely  forced  to  occupy  in  their  com- 
mon interest,  and  with  the  success  of  his  struggle 
against  England  in  view.  The  Emperor  Alexander 
answered  these  new  assurances  with  a  protest  ad- 
dressed to  every  European  court  against  the  annexa- 
tion of  the  State  of  Oldenburg  to  the  French  Empire. 

General   Lauriston,  aide-de-camp  of  the   Emperor, 


784  MEMOIRS    OF 

went  to  take  the  Due  de  Vicence's  place  in  Russia. 
During  the  first  audience  with  the  Czar  accorded  to 
the  new  ambassador  he  checked  him  at  the  first  word 
uttered  on  the  subject  of  the  arming  which  was  going 
on  in  Russia,  and  proposed  that  a  French  officer  should 
be  sent  off  together  with  a  Russian  officer,  and 
simultaneously,  with  the  view  of  assuring  themselves 
de  visit  of  the  falseness  of  the  reports  which  had  been 
addressed  to  the  Emperor  Napoleon  on  this  subject. 
And  yet  these  armaments  were  only  too  genuine! 

Amongst  the  causes  which  contributed  to  disturb  the 
good  understanding  between  France  and  Russia,  the 
Polish  question  holds  the  first  place.  Napoleon,  re- 
signed to  leave  the  re-establishment  of  Poland  to  the 
future,  had  done  his  best  to  reassure  the  Emperor 
Alexander  on  this  point.  At  his  request  he  had 
abstained  from  making  use  of  the  word  Poland  in 
his  home  and  foreign  communications;  he  had  op- 
posed the  re-establishment  of  the  Order  of  the  White 
Eagle,  and  had  insisted  that  those  who  were  decorated 
with  this  Order  should  cease  wearing  it.  He  had 
given  instruction  to  the  French  newspapers  that  the 
use  of  the  words  "  Poles  "  and  "  Poland  "  should  be 
avoided  in  writing  about  the  Duchy  of  Warsaw  and 
its  inhabitants.  And  finally.  Napoleon  had  authorized 
his  ambassador  in  St.  Petersburg  to  negotiate  and 
even  to  conclude  a  convention  by  which  France  would 
undertake  to  refuse  all  assistance  in  the  restoration  of 
this  ancient  monarchy.  This  convention  had  been 
negotiated  and  signed  by  the  Due  de  Vicence  on  Jan- 
uary 5th,  18 10.  It  contained  the  following  principal 
stipulations : 

"(i)  The  Kingdom  of  Poland  shall  never  be  re- 
established. 

"(2)  The  words  'Poland'  and  'Pole,'  shall  never 
figure  henceforward  in  any  public  deed. 


NAPOLEON    I.  785 

"(3)  Any  annexation  to  the  Grand-Duchy  of  War- 
saw of  any  territory  having  formerly  belonged  to  the 
ancient  monarchy  of  Poland,  is  forbidden.'' 

This  convention  had  been  immediately  ratified  by 
the  Emperor  Alexander,  and  was  transmitted  to  Paris 
to  receive  the  ratification  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon. 
How  much  the  imperative  terms  of  this  document  and 
its  unusual  form  shocked  him  may  be  imagined. 
Napoleon  invoked  the  dignity  of  France,  which  was 
oflFended  by  the  absolute  and  exclusive  expressions 
used  in  this  document.  He  complained  of  its  form, 
of  the  violation  of  accepted  customs,  and  of  the  an- 
ticipated ratifications  which  the  Czar  had  placed  upon 
it. 

He  declared  that  he  could  not  accept  the  conven- 
tion without  examination,  because  he  had  neither  ap- 
proved nor  even  known  the  terms  in  which  it  was 
drawn  up,  before  it  had  been  ratified  by  the  Czar, 
The  Russian  Cabinet,  in  exacting  that  no  part  of  the 
territory  which  had  belonged  to  ancient  Poland  should 
be  added  to  the  Grand-Duchy  of  Warsaw,  refused  to 
declare  in  a  reciprocal  manner  that  Poland  should  not 
be  annexed  to  Russia.  This  exclusion  of  all  reci- 
procity tended  to  make  France  odious  to  peoples  who 
were  attached  to  her  by  so  many  bonds,  and  even  to 
arm  them  against  her.  At  the  same  time  it  was  only 
in  its  form  that  Napoleon  disavowed  the  convention. 
He  wished  therefore  to  consider  the  act  which  his 
representative  had  signed  as  a  draft  to  which  the 
future  might  give  the  necessary  sanction.  "  He  was 
not."  he  said,  "  Destiny,  that  he  should  declare  Poland 
would  never  be  re-established."  Might  not  that  take 
place  without  his  co-operalion,  and  even  in  spile  of  him- 
.self?  Who  could  foresee  the  future?  Napoleon  ac- 
cordingly substituted  for  the  primitive  project  a  pro- 
ject which  was  calculated  to  realize  Russia's  object. 


786  MEMOIRS    OF 

This  modified  project  contained  an  engagement  on  the 
part  of  France  not  to  favour  any  undertaking  tend- 
ing to  a  re-establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of  Poland, 
and  rendering  common  to  Russia  as  to  the  Duchy  of 
Warsaw,  the  interdiction  of  any  extension  of  terri- 
tory by  districts  taken  from  the  ancient  Polish  pro- 
vinces. The  Emperor  of  Russia  refused  to  listen  to 
any  modification.  The  only  one  that  he  proposed  was 
that  he  would  join  with  the  Emperor  Napoleon  in 
undertaking  to  prevent  any  re-establishment  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Poland. 

This  clinging,  on  his  part,  to  the  terms  of  a  conven- 
tion which  he  himself  had  dictated  was  not  a  proof 
of  a  friendly  disposition,  but  rather  proved  a  design 
to  transform  Napoleon's  refusal  to  ratify  the  pro- 
jected convention,  into  one  of  those  grievances  the 
pretext  of  which  one  was  certain  to  arise  in  a  man  so 
jealous  of  the  nation's  honour  as  was  the  Emperor. 
It  was,  then,  one  grievance  the  more  that  the  coalition 
was  keeping  in  reserve  to  make  use  of  against  us  when 
the  hour  which  it  was  expecting  should  strike.  These 
hostile  mental  reservations,  about  which  it  would  have 
been  difficult  to  become  edified  had  the  idea  of  them 
remained  hidden  in  the  minds  of  the  princes  and  the 
ministers  of  the  coalition,  cannot  be  denied  to-day, 
when  accomplished  facts  have  established  their  pre- 
arrangement  and  when  writers,  the  agents  of  this 
coalition,  have  even  boasted  of  the  skilful  way  in 
which  they  were  combined. 

Without  entering  into  an  examination  of  the  plans 
of  our  enemies  we  will  content  ourselves  with  men- 
tioning the  facts  which  took  place  before  1811,  the 
date  of  which  opposes  itself  to  any  admission  of  the 
statement  that  they  were  only  just  reprisals  provoked 
by  the  French  Government.  First  of  all  there  is  the 
insignificant  co-operation  of  the  Russian  contingent 


NAPOLEON    I.  787 

in  the  1S09  campaig'ii,  \vhcn  a  Russian  force  less  in 
numbers  than  one-fifth  of  what  had  been  agreed  upon. 
acted  with  the  French  army;  and  then  only  as  an 
observation  corps,  rather  than  as  an  active  auxiliar)-. 
This  attitude  on  the  part  of  Russia  showed  that  the 
St.  Petersburg  Cabinet  had  not  frankly  broken  off 
with  the  coalition — of  which,  that  year,  Austria  was 
the  vanguard.  The  confessions  of  Colonel  Boutour- 
lin,  moreover,  remove  all  doubts  on  this  point. 

In  the  second  place,  the  refusal  of  Princess  Anna's 
hand  disguised  under  the  pretext  of  its  being  neces- 
sary to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  Empress  Mother, 
a  consent  which  was  not  obtained  after  a  delay  of 
two  months,  was  not  any  the  more  a  proof  than  the 
Emperor  Alexander  was  anxious  to  tighten  his  al- 
liance with  France.  And  finally  the  invincible  ob- 
stinacy with  which  this  prince  persisted  in  the  unac- 
ceptable terms  which  he  had  imperiously  imposed  in 
drawing  up  the  convention  concerning  Poland,  and  the 
preliminary  ratification  which  he  w-rote  at  the  bottom 
of  this  convention,  would  be  inexplicable  had  they  not 
been  calculated. 

To  these  signs  of  a  growing  deviation  from  the 
Tilsitt  alliance  must  be  added :  the  secret  orders  given 
by  the  Russian  Government  for  the  execution  of  works 
of  fortification  on  the  frontier  of  the  Grand-Duchy 
of  Warsaw,  the  creation  of  new  regiments,  and  the 
extraordinary  levy  of  four  men  out  of  every  five 
hundred  in  all  the  provinces  of  the  Muscovite  Empire, 
the  movements  of  the  troops  withdrawn  from  Siberia, 
or  from  the  army  in  Finland,  thanks  to  a  secret  un- 
derstanding come  to  with  Bernadotte,  the  recall  of 
several  army  divisions  from  Moldavia  and  Wallachia, 
and  their  assembly  on  the  frontiers  of  Poland  at  a 
time  when,  apart  from  the  French  garri.sons  left  in 
the  forts  of  Prussia  until  the  payment  of  ihc  war- 


788  MEMOIRS    OF 

indemnities,  France  had  only  the  corps  of  Marshal 
Davout  in  cantonment  in  the  Hanseatic  provinces,  in 
Germany,  the  immense  storehouses  of  provisions  and 
munitions  which  were  created  at  Wilna,  Minsk,  and 
other  fortified  places  in  Podolia  and  Wolhynia;  and, 
finally,  the  negotiations  which  were  entered  upon  at 
the  beginning  of  1811,  of  which  I  shall  speak  later 
on,  between  the  Russian  and  Prussian  Cabinets. 

To  these  preparations,  which  in  spite  of  their  pal- 
pability were  always  denied  by  the  Emperor  Alexan- 
der, must  be  added  the  ukase,  which  is  said  to  have 
been  issued  on  December  31st,  1810,  so  that  this  edict 
may  appear  to  have  been  issued  by  way  of  reprisal  on 
the  senatus  consultum  of  the  13th  of  the  same  month, 
which  sanctioned  the  annexation  of  the  Hanseatic 
cities  to  the  French  Empire;  but  the  Russian  decree 
had  been  long  in  preparation  in  the  offices  of  St.  Peters- 
burg before  being  published.  In  the  form  of  a  cus- 
tom house  regulation,  the  ukase  enforced  not  only  the 
prohibition,  but  even  the  destruction  of  all  French 
goods.  At  the  same  time  English  goods  were  allowed 
to  enter  all  Russian  ports,  provided  the  ship  was 
flying  a  neutral  flag,  a  flag  which  English  com- 
merce never  failed  to  use  when  it  was  to  its  interests 
to  do  so.  This  series  of  hostilities  put  forward  by 
Russia  was  completed  by  the  formation  of  a  corps  of 
90,000  armed  employes,  under  the  command  of  supe- 
rior officers  of  the  line,  a  corps  destined  to  assure  the 
execution  of  the  destructive  measures  w^hich  had  been 
ordered  against  the  produce  of  French  trade.  This 
new  corps  received  the  appellation  of  guardians  of 
the  frontier.  It  would  indeed  be  difficult  not  to  see  in 
the  acts  which  we  have  just  enumerated,  a  fixed 
determination  on  the  part  of  the  Russian  Government 
to  renounce  the  continental  system,  and  once  more  to 
make  common  cause  with  England. 


NAPOLEON    I.  789 

Napoleon  had  been  informed  that  since  the  spring 
of  181 1,  overtures  had  been  made  to  Prussia  to  induce 
her  to  join  with  Russia  in  the  attack  which  she  was 
meditating  on  France.  The  dangerous  situation  m 
which  Prussia  would  have  found  herself  placed,  and 
the  just  prudence  of  the  King,  kept  the  Prussian 
Cabinet  to  its  line  of  duty.  The  Emperor  Alexander, 
better  advised,  renounced  taking  the  offensive  this 
time,  and  postponed  carrying  into  effect  the  hostile 
projects  which  he  fostered  against  us.  He  wished 
to  leave  the  apparent  wrong  of  aggressiveness  to  Na- 
poleon. A  new  plan  of  campaign  was  accordingly 
concerted,  which  consisted,  as  we  saw  later  on,  in 
drawing  the  French  army  into  the  provinces  of  the 
Russian  Empire,  where  a  desert  would  be  made  all 
round  the  invaders,  who,  it  was  hoped,  would  perish 
by  starvation,  privations  of  every  kind,  and  the  in- 
clemency of  an  icy  climate.  Meanwhile  the  Emperor 
Alexander,  accordingly,  remained  on  the  defensive, 
whilst  secretly  continuing  his  preparations  for  war. 

Although  these  preparations  were  enshrouded  in 
deep  mystery  and  publicity  only  revealed  them  at  the 
supreme  moment,  they  could  not  escape  Napoleon's 
far-seeing  eye.  The  Emperor  on  his  side  was  getting 
ready,  and  was  sending  troops  quietly  on  to  Dantzig 
to  reinforce  the  garri.son.  This  brought  forth  auto- 
graph letters  from  the  Czar  Alexander,  who  com- 
plained of  the  threatening  attitude  which  France 
was  assuming  towards  him.  These  complaints  were 
followed  by  fresh  arming  on  the  part  of  Russia.  Na- 
poleon tried  to  hold  Alexander  on  the  precipitous  slope 
down  which  he  saw  him  rushing.  lie  assured  him  of 
his  desire  to  live  in  peace  and  implored  him  not  to 
listen  to  perfidious  inspirations,  the  effect  of  which 
must  end  in  bringing  about  an  inevitable  shock  be- 
tween the  two  empires.      But  the   Russian  sovereign 


790  MEMOIRS    OF 

turned  a  deaf  ear  to  these  protestations  and  to  this  ad- 
vice ;  a  feehng  of  distrust  increased  by  foreign  prompt- 
ings had  taken  deep  root  in  his  mind.  The  importuni- 
ties of  every  kind  of  the  Enghsh  agents,  the  obstacles 
which  the  ambitious  pohcy  of  Russia  encountered  in 
the  power  of  France,  the  feeling  of  spiteful  rivalry 
which  had  resulted  therefrom,  envenomed  a  state  of 
misunderstanding,  which,  as  Napoleon  thought,  could 
have  been  put  an  end  to  by  a  private  conversation  be- 
tween the  two  sovereigns,  if  Alexander  could  have 
been  brought  to  it. 

Apart  from  the  grievances  which  divided  the  two 
cabinets  on  the  subject  of  Poland,  their  respective 
recriminations  bore  upon  other  very  serious  points. 
Russia  could  not  pardon  our  government  the  annexa- 
tion of  the  Hanseatic  cities,  and  especially  the  annex- 
ation of  Oldenburg  to  the  French  Empire.  The  Em- 
peror Alexander's  susceptibility  had,  and  not  unreason- 
ably, been  wounded  by  the  dispossession  of  the  Duke 
of  Oldenburg,  the  husband  of  Grand-duchess  Cath- 
erine, the  Czar's  well-beloved  sister.  On  France's 
side  it  was  the  infraction  of  the  continental  system,  a 
system  which  Russia's  attitude  struck  to  the  heart, 
which  most  irritated  the  Emperor.  Napoleon  took 
pains  to  demonstrate  on  his  side  that  the  annexation 
of  countries  on  the  northern  seaboard  of  Germany  had 
been  caused  by  the  imperative  necessity  of  closing  upon 
English  trade  the  useful  markets  which  she  found 
there  for  the  sale  of  her  merchandise  on  the  continent. 
We  have  seen  that  he  also  offered  the  sovereign  of 
Oldenburg,  an  indemnity  fully  equivalent  to  the  loss 
of  his  duchy,  and  that  he  sought  to  calm,  by  means 
of  reasonable  proposals,  the  anxieties  which  were  pre- 
served by  Russia  as  to  the  possibility  of  a  resurrection 
of  the  ancient  monarchy  of  Poland.  Napoleon's  in- 
clinations and  interest  led  him  to  avoid  war;  Russia 


NAPOLEON    I.  791 

on  the  contrary,  seeing  her  adversary's  reluctance,  was 
trying  to  throw  him  into  it.  Encouraged  by  our  at- 
titude, the  Russian  Cabinet  made  every  effort,  both 
secretly  and  openly,  with  a  bellicose  object  in  view. 

The  annexation  of  the  Hanseatic  cities,  of  Olden- 
burg, and  of  Pomerania  to  Erance.  which  had  taken 
place  after  repeated  warnings,  and  when  a  conviction 
had  been  come  to  as  to  the  real  or  pretended  impo- 
tence of  these  countries  to  forbid  the  access  of  their 
ports  to  English  trade,  could  not  be  looked  upon  as  a 
violation  of  the  Treaty  of  Tilsitt,  since  this  annexation, 
on  the  contrary,  tended  to  ensure  the  full  and  entire 
carrying  into  effect  of  the  engagements  which  had  been 
taken.  The  connivance  of  the  authorities  in  these  vari- 
ous countries  with  England  was  moreover  very  well 
known.  The  voluntary  non-observation  of  the  conti- 
nental blockade  rendered  many  points  on  this  seaboard 
vulnerable,  and  forced  Napoleon,  whose  clear-sighted- 
ness never  failed  him.  to  seize  upon  it.  People  have 
never  tired  of  repeating  that  the  districts  situated  on 
the  mouths  of  the  Elbe,  the  Ems.  and  the  Weser  had 
been  annexed  to  the  Erench  Empire  to  be  indefinitely 
incorporated  therewith.  This  erroneous  assertion  was 
formulated  to  give  greater  weight  to  the  reproaches  of 
provocation  which  were  made  against  us  by  Russia, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  greater  part  of  the  hostile 
measures  which  this  power  took  against  Erance  pre- 
ceded these  alleged  provocations.  The  Emperor 
wished  to  keep  these  different  States  in  his  hands  as 
long  as  the  maritime  war  should  last.  So  penetrating 
a  mind  as  Napoleon's  could  not  dream  of  retaining  in- 
definitely, for  incorporation  in  a  new  empire,  these  re- 
mote regions,  which  it  was  his  intention  to  surrender 
at  the  time  of  general  peace,  lie  was  very  well  aware 
that,  unless  certain  restitutions  were  made,  all  hope  of 
a  European  pacification   would  be  a  chimerical  one 


792  MEMOIRS    OF 

However,  in  all  his  messages,  the  Emperor  kept  re- 
peating the  declaration  which  he  had  never  ceased  to 
make,  that  as  long  as  the  British  Cabinet  should  per- 
sist in  its  attitude,  so  long  would  he  also  persist  in  the 
use  of  measures  which  this  attitude  had  forced  him  to 
adopt. 

The  thought  of  rescuing  France  and  the  States  of 
the  continent  from  the  humiliating  supremacy  of  Eng- 
land was  a  generous  and  a  lofty  one.  The  Emperor's 
ardent  and  exclusive  wish  was  to  force  peace  upon  the 
English  Government.  All  attempts  to  bring  this  about 
by  negotiations  had  failed,  his  plan  of  invading  Eng- 
land had  failed,  one  means  alone  remained  efficacious, 
that,  namely,  of  closing  all  access  to  the  continent  to 
the  commerce  of  our  enemies.  The  decrees  of  the 
British  Cabinet,  under  date  of  May  i6th,  1806,  which 
declared  the  coasts  of  France  and  Holland,  from  the 
Elbe  to  Brest,  in  a  state  of  blockade,  had  decided  the 
continental  system.  Napoleon  replied  to  the  blockade 
of  the  continent  with  the  blockade  of  the  British  Isles. 
The  extraordinary  measures  decreed  to  bring  this 
great  enterprise  to  a  successful  issue  were  its  natural 
consequence.  The  first  clause  of  the  treaties  of  peace 
with  Russia,  Sweden,  and  Prussia,  had  been  the  adhe- 
sion of  these  powers  to  the  continental  system.  This 
condition  was  also  imposed  on  the  other  states  on  the 
continent.  In  this  way  England  was  placed  under  the 
taboo  of  the  continent.  Once  engaged  in  this  mighty 
struggle  Napoleon  could  draw  back  before  no  obstacle 
in  the  realization  of  a  plan  which  promised  such  useful 
and  such  splendid  results.  There  was  the  price  of  the 
efforts  of  the  continental  states.  One  or  two  years 
more  and  the  object  was  gained.  Those  who  have 
looked  upon  this  conception  as  a  mad  and  impracti- 
cable scheme  have  not  considered  that  Napoleon's  enter- 
prise was  easier  of  execution  than  was  the  realization 


NAPOLEON    I.  793 

of  the  threats  of  the  EngHsh  Government,  and  that 
the  power  of  the  man  who  had  conceived  it  equalled 
his  genius.  Its  success  would  have,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
been  infallible.  It  needed  the  unheard-of  disasters  to 
which  France  fell  a  victim  to  save  England,  and  to 
bring  back  to  her  the  states  which  would  have  profited 
by  her  ruin. 

If  one  passes  to  considerations  of  a  less  general 
nature  it  will  be  found  that  France  was  too  great  and 
too  powerful  for  England  to  consent  to  live  in  peace 
with  her.  Had  our  country  not  been  sustained  by  an 
energetic  hand,  it  would  only  have  been  by  keeping 
itself  in  a  state  of  dependence,  and  submitting  to  the 
laws  of  its  rival,  that  it  would  have  succeeded  in  en- 
joying a  delusive  calm.  As  long  as  England  found 
means  to  arouse  the  continent,  by  exciting  the  pas- 
sions of  the  European  cabinets  and  aristocracy,  she 
employed  all  her  energies  for  the  ruin  of  France  and 
the  imperial  dynasty.  It  was  to  her  the  "To  be,  or 
not  to  be"  of  Shakespeare's  Hamlet.  The  French  Em- 
pire had  either  to  put  its  neck  under  the  yoke  of  this 
irreconcilable  enemy,  and  submit  to  the  consequences 
of  its  implacable  hatred,  by  giving  up  the  only  means 
of  bringing  her  to  equitable  conditions,  or  to  persist 
in  the  rigorous  system  of  blockade  which  had  been 
conceived  by  Napoleon.  The  latter  had  not  always  a 
choice  of  means,  and  the  calumnies  spread  abroad 
against  the  character  of  the  greatest  man  of  modern 
times  will  pass  away,  together  with  the  many  com- 
monplace accusations  of  despotism  and  hatred  of 
liberty  wilh  which  it  has  become  conventional  to 
charge  his  memory.  Impartial  posterity  will  appre- 
ciate what  he  did  for  France,  and  what  the  circum- 
stances in  which  he  was  placed  prevented  him  from  ac- 
complishing. 

The  incompatibility  of  the  new  France,  both  under 


794  MEMOIRS    OF 

the  Republic  and  under  the  Empire,  with  old  Europe 
could  only  cease  by  the  triumph  of  the  former.  The 
liberal  reaction  for  which  the  nations  were  not  ripe  at 
the  time,  and  which  was  progressing  secretly,  but  not 
without  Napoleon's  knowledge,  would  have  been  in- 
evitably accomplished  if  peace  had  crowned  our  vic- 
tories. Does  one  wish  to  know  what  was  Napoleon's 
secret,  and  the  reason  of  a  part  of  his  success?  It  was 
that  he  constantly  studied  the  dispositions  and  the 
needs  of  the  people,  that  he  could  decide  what  was  the 
general  tendency  of  men's  minds,  and  knew  how  to 
seize  upon  it.  Napoleon  was  ambitious,  but  always 
and  above  all  with  a  patriotic  purpose  in  view.  He 
only  undertook  what  he  was  able  to  accomplish,  and 
the  unceasing  motive  of  his  ambition  was  an  ardent 
love  for  his  country,  on  which  all  his  thoughts  and 
all  his  actions  were  based.  If  he  committed  faults,  they 
always  had  this  noble  sentiment  for  cause  and  for 
excuse,  and  to  what  a  height  did  not  these  very  faults 
raise  the  French  name ! 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  had  appeared  at  Tilsitt  to 
share  Napoleon's  feelings  towards  England.  Alex- 
ander's first  words  on  the  raft  on  the  Niemen :  "Like 
you,  I  am  England's  enemy,"  had  flattered  Napoleon's 
heart,  and  were  destined  to  smooth  away  all  obstacles 
which  might  still  separate  victor  and  vanquished. 
Later  on,  when  the  two  sovereigns  met  at  Erfurth,  the 
Emperor  Alexander  pretended  to  persevere  in  the  same 
feelings.  With  a  view  of  assuring  himself  of  the  co- 
operation of  a  powerful  ally  against  the  common 
enemy  Napoleon  made  up  his  mind  to  sacrifices  which 
he  afterwards  had  reason  to  regret.  At  Tilsitt  he  had 
prevented  the  Turks  from  re-occupying  Moldavia 
and  Wallachia,  at  Erfurth  he  consented  to  the  surren- 
der of  these  provinces  to  Russia.  The  Emperor  at 
Tilsitt  had  lent  his  hand  to  the  weakening  of  Sweden, 


NAPOLEON    1.  795 

at  that  time,  it  is  true,  England's  most  persevering  ally, 
by  abandoning  Finland  to  Russia,  a  concession  of  ines- 
timable value  to  that  power.  He  complained  later  on 
with  reason,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  the  Emperor  Al- 
exander, that  he  had  only  contributed  to  the  aggran- 
dizement of  Russia  to  see  French  trade  excluded  by 
the  Russians  from  Moldavia  up  to  Finland,  and  yet 
the  league  formed  by  the  Emperor  against  Englantl 
had  a  future  object  which  would  have  been  profitable 
not  only  to  France  but  to  Russia  herself,  as  well  as  to 
all  the  maritime  powers  of  the  North. 

The  year  1811,  and  the  first  months  of  1812,  were 
taken  up  with  an  exchange  of  diplomatic  notes  be- 
tween the  Russian  and  French  Cabinets,  and  a  corre- 
spondence between  the  two  sovereigns,  the  substance 
of  which,  on  Napoleon's  side,  was  :  "You  are  preparing 
for  war.  It  can  only  be  against  me;  but  I  am  defend- 
ing our  common  interests  against  England,  and  I  have 
accordingly  no  wish  to  attack  you.  You  are  obliging 
me  to  imitate  you ;  war  may  be  the  result,  although  I 
do  not  wish  for  it,  and  you  perhaps  do  not  desire  it 
yourself.  Is  there  no  means  of  coming  to  an  under- 
standing?" In  the  meanwhile  Russia  was  secretly  pre- 
paring to  commence  the  war.  Colonel  Boutourlin. 
whom  we  have  already  quoted,  relates  on  page  58  of 
the  first  volume  of  his  Military  History  of  the  Cam- 
paign of  18 1 2,  "that  Russia  wished  to  commence  the 
attack  in  the  spring  of  181 1,  but  recognized  that  she 
was  not  ready  to  do  so  at  that  time." 

At  last  in  the  month  of  February,  18 12,  when  the 
formirlable  display  of  troops  in  Russia,  ceasing  to 
menace  her  natural  enemies,  had  been  si)read  out  along 
the  frontiers  of  the  Grand-Duchy  of  Warsaw,  the 
Emperor  sent  for  Cononel  CzernitchefF,  Alexander's 
aide-de-camp,  who,  since  1808,  had  been  constantly 
living  close  to  his  person  in  the  capacity  of  confiden- 


796  MEMOIRS    OF 

tial  intermediary.  Napoleon  unburthened  himself 
towards  him  on  the  causes  of  the  misunderstanding 
which  existed  between  France  and  Russia,  and  charged 
him  with  conciliatory  proposals  for  his  master.  Czer- 
nitcheff  went  off,  but  did  not  return.  He  carried  away 
with  him  reports  on  the  state  of  the  French  army 
which  he  had  succeeded  in  getting  from  an  employe 
at  the  War  Office,  a  man  called  Michel,  who  paid  with 
his  head  for  the  treachery  which  he  had  committed  in 
favour  of  the  Czar's  aide-de-camp. 

The  Emperor  applied  himself  with  all  his  might  to 
minimize  the  rigorous  effect  of  the  prohibitive  meas- 
ures which  he  had  been  forced  to  adopt.  He  proposed 
equivalents,  the  system  of  licences,  by  means  of  which 
England  was  prevented  from  drawing  money  from 
the  continent  in  exchange  for  the  produce  of  her  trade. 
The  licences  allowed  merchant  vessels  to  import  a 
certain  quantity  of  colonial  produce  on  condition  of 
exporting  the  equivalent  value  in  French  merchandise. 
Every  ship  bearing  a  licence,  freighted  with  a  cargo 
of  native  productions,  was  allowed  to  go  and  exchange 
its  cargo  in  England  for  colonial  produce  and  raw 
materials  alone,  but  not  for  manufactured  goods.  In 
this  way  England  received  no  money,  and  goods  of 
English  manufacture  could  not  penetrate  on  to  the 
continent.  The  speculators  who  obtained  these  licences 
very  often  paid  no  attention  to  the  condition  of  export- 
ing French  goods,  the  entrance  of  which  into  England 
was  subjected  to  very  heavy  duties.  They  used  to  load 
their  ships  with  goods  which  had  the  least  sale  in 
France  and  would  often  throw  these  cargoes  overboard 
when  out  at  sea,  instead  of  seeking  to  introduce  them 
into  England.  Colonial  produce  and  raw  materials 
consequently  cost  a  much  higher  price,  but  this  sacri- 
fice was  largely  compensated  for  by  the  profits  which 
these  speculators  derived  from  such  valuable  produce 


NAPOLEON    I.  797 

as  sugar,  coffee,  and  spices,  which  nobody  on  the  con- 
tinent was  wilhng  to  entirely  forego.  This  was  an  at- 
tenuation of  the  continental  system,  and  although  it 
was  no  doubt  imperfect,  it  was  difficult  to  go  further, 
seeing  what  were  the  exceptional  circumstances  in 
which  one  was  placed  at  the  time.  Russia  could  make 
use  of  the  same  means  of  procuring  colonial  produce 
necessary  for  her  consumption  or  raw  material  useful 
for  her  industries,  in  exchange  for  her  tars,  leathers, 
and  timber.  However,  the  more  conciliating  and  the 
more  desirous  of  avoiding  a  rupture  did  Napoleon 
show  himself,  the  more  did  Alexander  imagine  that 
the  French  Government  was  not  ready  to  fight  him, 
and  was  afraid  of  him.  The  Czar,  moreover,  was  free 
no  longer,  and  had  been  entirely  circumvented  by 
England.  There  was  no  kind  of  intrigue,  no  perfid- 
ious proceeding  which  our  eternal  enemy  neglected 
to  use,  at  St.  Petersburg  and  elsewhere,  to  excite 
people  against  the  Emperor  Napoleon — substitutions 
of  documents,  forgery  of  writings  and  of  signatures, 
all  was  good.  Towards  the  end  of  1811,  a  cabal,  of 
which  the  principal  agent  was  a  certain  Baron  d'Arm- 
feldt — who  had  been  long  in  the  pay  of  England — 
trumped  up  the  proofs  of  an  act  of  subornation  of 
which  Napoleon  was  alleged  to  be  the  principal  instiga- 
tor, and  Speranski,  the  secretary  of  the  Russian  Cabi- 
net, the  object  and  the  accomplice.  Speranski  corre- 
sponded with  the  general  secretary  of  the  P^rench 
Council  of  State  on  matters  of  internal  government,  a 
correspondence  to  which  Alexander  had  appeared  to  at- 
tach importance  and  which  had  been  authorized  by  the 
French  Government.  Although  these  communications 
had  absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  politics,  the  infor- 
mers did  not  lose  the  opportunity  of  seizing  on  this 
pretext  and  of  transforming  this  exchange  of  letters 
into  a  conspiracy.    Speranski   saw  himself   in  conse- 


798  MEMOIRS    OF 

quence  dismissed  suddenly,  and  banished,  without  even 
having  been  heard.  These  odious  and  perfidious  ma- 
chinations still  further  increased  Alexander's  mistrust 
of  Napoleon,  and  contributed  towards  changing  the 
good  relations  which  had  existed  so  long  between 
them.  The  Emperor  of  Russia  only  discovered  the 
innocence  of  the  privy  councillor,  Speranski,  two 
years  later.  Ele  awarded  this  faithful  servant  a  poor 
compensation  for  his  undeserved  disgrace  by  appoint- 
ing him  governor  of  the  province  of  Siberia  to  which 
he  had  been  at  first  banished.  Count  Nesselrode  and 
Prince  Gagarin  took  Speranski's  place  as  secretaries 
to  the  Czar's  Cabinet.  It  was  by  similar  lying  artifices 
that  England  acted  upon  the  suspicious  mind  of  the 
Emperor  Alexander,  and  succeeded  in  binding  this 
prince  by  means  of  a  treaty  which  it  was  agreed  to 
keep  secret  till  the  day  when  an  open  rupture  between 
France  and  Russia  should  break  out  and  hostilities 
begin. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  Napoleon  could  only  lose  by  the 
war  which  was  being  prepared.  The  continental  sys- 
tem, so  disastrous  to  England,  was  by  this  fact  post- 
poned, hindered,  and  subjected  to  uncertain  hazards. 
The  cries  of  distress  and  of  weariness  which  were 
being  heard  in  London,  Liverpool,  Bristol,  and  else- 
where, already  announced  the  early  and  complete 
success  of  the  system.  On  the  other  hand  affairs  in 
Spain  imperatively  demanded  all  France's  efforts. 
The  Emperor  was  aware  of  the  situation,  if  one  may 
judge  from  various  notes  which  he  dictated  on  dif- 
ferent occasions.  He  "worked  out  his  proposition  in 
different  ways,"  and  always  found,  at  the  end  of  his 
calculations  that  he  could  not  make  war  upon  Russia 
without  incurring  risks  which  it  was  to  his  interest  to 
avoid.  He  would  have  wished  to  be  able  to  postpone 
this  war  for  three  years.    The  object  of  the  continental 


NAPOLEON    I.  799 

system  would  then  have  been  attained,  and  Spain 
would  have  been  pacitied.  He  had  all  to  hope  for 
from  time,  and  the  consolidation  which  two  or  three 
years  more  would  have  given  to  his  power.  The  coali- 
tion understood  this  perfectly,  and  put  enough  occu- 
pation in  his  way  to  prevent  him  from  returning  to 
Spain.  It  knew  how  to  work  the  strings  of  the  most 
refined  intrigue.  It  influenced  the  Emperor  Alexander 
with  all  that  was  likely  to  have  an  effect  on  his  mind, 
ofTering  baits  to  his  ambition  which  did  not  find 
sufficient  satisfaction  in  Napoleon's  condescensions. 
It  constantly  put  before  the  Czar's  eyes  the  phantom 
of  the  re-establishment  of  Poland  and  persuaded  him 
that  he  was  France's  dupe,  in  spite  of  the  genuine 
advantages  which  he  had  derived  from  the  French 
alliance.  It  represented  the  occupation  of  Oldenburg 
as  a  proof  of  the  want  of  consideration  of  which  the 
French  Government  rendered  itself  guilty.  It  made  a 
skilful  use  of  a  suspicious  and  jealous  character  and 
threatened  him,  needs  be,  with  his  father's  tragic  fate. 
These  manoeuvres,  skilfully  directed,  led  Alexander  on, 
at  first  insensibly,  and  then  by  a  rapid  slope  to  a  rup- 
ture of  the  alliance,  and  to  a  savage  war,  fatal  to  hu- 
manity. The  pressing  need  of  ending  the  war  in  Spain 
explains  Napoleon's  reluctance  to  enter  the  arena  with 
Russia.  He  would  have  preferred  to  postpone  the 
war,  and  hoped  for  some  time  to  be  able  to  avoid  it. 
He  spared  nothing  to  obtain  this  result,  apart  from  the 
sacrifice  of  a  system  the  effects  of  which  were  about  to 
become  decisive.  When  all  hopes  of  preserving  good 
relations  with  Russia  had  been  dispelled,  the  Emperor 
wished  to  dispose  of  all  his  forces  to  strike  a  great  blow 
in  the  East  and  to  return  promptly  to  Spain.  Unheartl- 
of  disasters  deceived  the  most  clever  and  most  prudent 
calculations.  A  happy  issue  of  the  affairs  in  Spain  was 
about   to  render   Napoleon   master  of   the    Peninsula 


8oo  MEMOIRS    OF 

and  to  make  him  free  of  action.  The  Enghsh 
Government  saw  this  and  could  not  hesitate.  It 
was  accordingly  urgently  necessary  for  England 
to  involve  her  powerful  adversary  in  a  new  struggle 
with  all  the  embarrassments  inherent  to  his  posi- 
tion. 

Napoleon  accordingly  found  himself  involved, 
against  his  will,  in  a  gigantic  expedition,  which  he 
would  have  preferred  to  postpone,  because  later  on  it 
could  have  been  carried  out  with  better  chances  of 
success  if  any  longer  necessary.  He  could  not  over- 
look the  fact  that  the  immutable  tendency  of  the  Rus- 
sians since  Peter  the  Great,  had  been  to  exchange  their 
icy  climate  for  warmer  skies,  and  their  arid  steppes  for 
the  rich  and  fertile  provinces  of  central  Europe.  To 
drive  back  the  Russians  into  ancient  Muscovy,  and 
to  raise  up  the  throne  to  Poland  to  serve  as  a  frontier 
to  the  States  of  Germany,  and  to  act  as  the  Empire's 
bulwark  against  their  invasions,  such  was  Napoleon's 
secret  object,  a  result  the  realization  of  which  was  to 
be  the  corollary  to  and  the  completion  of  the  success  of 
the  continental  system.  It  was  to  assure  the  success 
of  this  colossal  enterprise  that  Napoleon  succeeded  in 
uniting  under  the  French  flag  the  whole  of  Southern 
Europe.  Unfortunately  the  danger  for  him  lay  in  so 
many  precarious  alliances,  and  it  was  in  relying  on 
these  that  his  ruin  was  consummated.  He  blamed 
himself  for  this  fault,  which  he  himself  called  a  clumsy 
one.  It  was  indeed  necessary  for  him  to  be  absolute 
victor  everywhere  and  always,  and  the  day  of  a  re- 
verse must  necessarily  transform  the  allies  whom 
victory  alone  kept  under  his  flag,  into  bitterest 
enemies. 

Matters  had  grown  worse  in  Spain.  The  conquest 
of  Andalusia  by  the  French  armies  had  forced  the 
Seville  junta  to  flee  to  Cadiz.    The  time  it  seemed  had 


NAPOLEON    I.  8oi 

come  to  push  the  war  vigorously  on  at  this  point,  and 
to  protit  by  the  dissensions  which  divided  the  councils 
of  the  Spanish  rebels.  A  provisional  regency,  com- 
posed of  five  members,  replaced  the  Seville  junta  and 
organized  means  of  defence  before  which  the  efforts 
of  the  French  troops  failed.  No  better  success  awaited 
King  Joseph's  conciliatory  measures,  so  that  that  im- 
portant war  port  Cadiz,  key  to  all  the  provinces  of  the 
South  of  Spain,  became  the  centre  of  the  resistance  of 
the  Peninsula. 

In  Portugal.  Marshal  IMassena,  detained  during  a 
month  before  the  lines  of  Torres-Vedras,  was  forced 
by  famine,  disease,  and  daily  encounters,  which  de- 
cimated his  army  by  reducing  it  to  the  saddest  extrem- 
ities, to  approach  his  victualling  centres,  to  beat  a  re- 
treat, and  finally  to  evacuate  Portugal.  He  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  English  general,  who  recaptured  Ciudad- 
Rodrigo  and  Badajoz.  Partial  insurrections  increased 
in  number,  and  guerillas  covered  the  whole  Spanish 
territory.  The  recall  of  the  imperial  guard  and  of 
several  regiments,  the  rumors  of  an  imminent  rupture 
between  France  and  Russia  had  raised  the  courage  of 
the  Spanish  rebels.  Famine  was  reigning  in  Madrid 
and  in  the  provinces,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  com- 
munication. The  Emperor  before  leaving  to  undertake 
his  campaign  in  Russia,  had  handed  over  the  command 
of  the  French  troops  in  Spain  to  King  Joseph.  Napo- 
leon had  restored  Marshal  Jourdan  to  his  brother, 
with  whom  the  King  agreed  better  than  with  Marshal 
Soult.  This  combination  of  occurrences  shows  how 
greatly  the  Emperor  must  have  felt  the  necessity  of 
finishing  the  war  in  Spain.  A  last  but  feeble  hope  re- 
mained to  him.  Since  1809  Austria  had  been  keeping 
an  agent.  Baron  de  Wessemberg,  in  London,  with 
whom  it  was  possible  to  communicate  by  Calai.s.  The 
proposal    which    Napoleon    transmitted    to    London 


8o2  MEMOIRS    OF 

through  this  agent  had  for  its  principal  object  the  evac- 
uation of  the  Spanish  territory  by  the  French  and  Eng- 
Hsh  armies,  and  the  independence  of  this  country, 
under  the  ''present  dynasty."  The  negotiation  was  a 
very  short  one,  for  Lord  Castlereagh  answered  that 
if  the  exclusion  of  Ferdinand  VII.  and  his  heirs  was 
maintained  the  engagement  undertaken  by  the  British 
Government  did  not  allow  him  to  accede  to  the  pro- 
posal of  the  French  Government.  This  very  plain 
spoken  declaration  broke  off  the  negotiation  at  its  com- 
mencement. Napoleon  unfortunately  thought  himself 
sufficiently  strong  to  carry  on  two  such  gigantic  enter- 
prises at  the  same  time. 

Alliances  with  Austria  and  Prussia  became  neces- 
sary to  France  before  entering  on  the  campaign  and 
sending  her   armies   into   Russia.      Prussia,   hemmed 
in   between   two  giants   ready   to   dash  against   each 
other,   had  made   fruitless  remonstrances   to   the   St. 
Petersburg  Cabinet  to  avert  war.     Despairing  of  pre- 
venting a  conflict  in  which,  either  by  remaining  neutral 
or  by  acting  in  a  hostile  manner  towards  France,  the 
Prussian  monarchy  ran  the  risk  of  definitely  disappear- 
ing, the  Prussian  Government  made  up  its  mind  to 
solicit  from  the  French  Cabinet  an  alliance  which  it 
.  had  declined  at  a  time  when  it  would  have  been  very 
useful.     But  this  time  the  royal  government  used  all 
its  power  to  bring  it  about.   Although  Napoleon  could 
have  no  real  trust  in  a  cabinet  which  only  asked  for  an 
alliance  with  France  because  it  was  out  of  its  power 
to  wage  war  upon  us,  a  purely  defensive  treaty  of  al- 
liance was   signed  with   Prussia   on   February   24th, 
1 812.  The  King  undertook  to  supply  the  French  army 
with  a  contingent  of  20,000  men.     One  of  the  secret 
clauses  of  the  treaty  revealed  the  mistrust  which,  on 
the  part  of  France,  was  so  justified  by  the  conduct  of 
Prussia  in  1806.    This  power,  by  a  clause  in  the  treaty. 


NAPOLEON    I.  803 

deprived  itself  of  the  power  of  making  any  levy  of 
men.  or  of  ordering  any  movement  of  troops,  without 
having  previously  concerted  with  France. 

OfTering  easier  terms  to  Austria  the  Emperor  con- 
cluded a  treaty  with  her  on  March  14th  of  the  same 
year.  The  contingent  of  the  Austrian  monarchy  was 
fixed  at  30.000  men.  One  of  the  secret  clauses  stipu- 
lated that  if,  as  a  consequence  of  the  war,  the  King- 
dom of  Poland  should  be  re-established,  Austria  would 
agree  to  cede  a  part  of  Galicia  to  be  added  to  this 
kingdom  in  exchange  for  the  Illyrian  provinces,  which 
France  then  and  there  agreed  to  abandon  to  her  by 
way  of  compensation.  In  the  case  of  a  happy  issue  of 
the  war  France  also  promised  to  procure  to  Austria 
indemnities  and  increase  of  territory  which  would  not 
only  compensate  her  for  the  co-operation  in  this  war, 
but  which  would  also  be  "a  monument  of  the  intimate 
and  lasting  union  which  existed  between  the  two  sover- 
eigns." 

Negotiations  were  at  the  same  time  carried  on  with 
Sweden,  who  by  her  geographical  position,  in  threat- 
ening Russia  with  a  formidable  diversion,  covered 
the  left  of  our  army.  But  these  negotiations  were  en- 
tirely lacking  in  good  faith  on  the  part  of  the  Stock- 
holm Cabinet.  And  to  give  the  proof  of  this  at  once, 
I  will  mention  that  whilst  the  Crown  Prince  was 
haggling  with  us  over  his  help  against  Russia — May 
29th,  1812 — he  had  signed  a  treaty  of  alliance  with 
that  power  two  months  previously,  namely,  on  March 
24th.  The  Swedish  Cabinet  had  been  frecjuently 
warned  that  if  Pomerania  continued  to  serve  as  a 
market  for  P^nglish  trade,  and  as  the  receptacle  of  the 
libellous  publications  directed  against  France,  the 
French  Government  would  be  obliged  to  occupy  this 
province.  No  satisfactory  answer  having  been  re- 
ceived on  this  subject,  Prince  d'Ecknuiehl,  command- 

M — M«'nioirn  Vol.  7 


8o4  MEMOIRS    OF 

ing  the  French  troops  in  the  Hanseatic  provinces,  had 
had  possession  taken  of  Stralsund,  on  January  30th, 
by  a  premature  interpretation  of  instructions  which 
had  been  given  him  against  British  commerce. 
Marshal  Davout  was  authorized  to  take  this  step  by 
the  continual  traffic  which  was  going  on  between 
Stralsund  and  Heligoland,  a  rock  near  the  coast,  which 
had  become  a  rich  storehouse  of  English  ammuni- 
tion, goods,  and  libellous  publications,  and  the  hot- 
bed of  active  intrigues.  The  occupation  of  Pomer- 
ania,  foreseen  at  Stockholm,  was  considered  inevita- 
ble; a  great  deal  of  noise,  however,  was  made  about 
it  there.  The  Crown  Prince,  who  at  that  time  was 
already  engaged  in  very  advanced  pourparlers  with 
Russia,  offered  to  break  them  off  on  a  condition  which 
he  knew  to  be  inacceptable.  He  asked  that  France 
should  guarantee  him  the  acquisition  of  Norway,  by 
despoiling  Denmark,  our  most  faithful  ally,  whose 
possessions  we  had  guaranteed.  The  Emperor  Alex- 
ander, in  order  to  attach  Sweden  to  the  coalition,  had 
promised  the  Crown  Prince  to  hand  Norway  over  to 
him  in  compensation  for  the  annexation  of  Finland  to 
Russia.  England,  constant  to  her  hatred  for  Den- 
mark, on  account  of  the  fidelity  of  this  State  to  the 
French  alliance,  not  content  with  ratifying  this  prom- 
ise, had  further  undertaken  to  help  Sweden  in  the  con- 
quest of  Norway. 

The  perseverance  of  the  Crown  Prince  in  his  pre- 
tensions on  this  country,  did  not  stop  Napoleon  in  his 
negotiations  with  the  Stockholm  Cabinet.  He  em- 
ployed every  means  to  reach  Bernadotte's  heart,  and 
to  recall  him  to  a  sense  of  duty  and  of  his  true  in- 
terests. The  Emperor  even  caused  the  Princess 
Royal,  who  was  at  that  time  in  Paris,  to  act  upon  her 
husband  with  this  purpose  in  view.  Napoleon  has 
been  reproached  for  having  left  the  letters  which  the 


NAPOLEON    I.  805 

Crown  Prince  addressed  him  unanswered  for  several 
weeks.  The  Emperor's  communications  with  the 
Swedish  Cabinet  had,  perhaps,  to  be  waited  for  at 
first,  but  they  were  always  calm,  dignified,  and  marked 
by  a  spirit  of  conciliation,  which  gives  a  denial  to  the 
charge  of  haughtiness  and  bitterness  which  has  been 
directed  against  them.  The  proof  of  this  will  be 
found  in  tiie  notes  w'hich  were  exchanged  between 
the  two  governments,  notes  which  were  published 
after  1815. 

Napoleon  undertook  not  to  conclude  peace  until  the 
restitution  of  Finland  to  Sweden  had  been  obtained. 
If  the  Crown  Prince,  having  other  objects  in  view, 
could  not  accept  this  proposal,  nothing  in  any  case 
prevented  him  from  remaining  neutral.  Honour,  the 
constancy  of  France's  goodwill  towards  Sweden,  the 
gratitude  due  from  Bernadotte  to  his  first  country — 
a  gratitude  which  nothing  rendered  incompatible  with 
his  new  duties — all  his  past,  in  one  word,  imposed 
neutrality  at  least,  but  his  feeling  of  hatred  got  the 
upper  hand.  Bernadotte  did  not  content  himself  with 
declaring  against  France,  he  did  more,  he  sent  into 
the  wilds  of  America  for  an  accomplice  in  his  deser- 
tion, General  Aloreau,  and  obtained  not  only  the  ces- 
sion of  Norway,  but  also  of  Guadeloupe,  the  restitu- 
tion of  which  France  only  obtained  in  1814. 

I  speak  here  for  the  last  time  of  the  relations  of  the 
Empire  with  the  Crown  Prince  of  Sweden,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  these  perfidious  negotiations — for  they 
merit  this  appellation — continued  till  the  month  of 
June,  181 4.  Napoleon's  cutting  saying  about  Berna- 
dotte is  known :  "One  is  not  obliged  to  deny  one's 
mother,  in  taking  a  wife,  and  still  less  to  wish  to  stab 
her  to  the  heart." 

The  defection  of  Turkey  was  caused  by  tiie  belief 
with  which  the  Divan  had  been  inspired  that  France 


8o6  MEMOIRS    OF 

was  abandoning  her  alliance  for  an  alliance  with 
Russia,  and  by  the  absence  at  this  decisive  moment 
of  our  ambassador  to  the  Sublime  Porte.  Since  the 
month  of  January,  1812,  a  man  eminently  French,  who 
from  his  mission  to  Turkey  had  kept  up  relations  from 
which  he  obtained  valuable  and  reliable  information, 
the  Chevalier  Amedee  Jaubert — alarmed  at  the  warn- 
ings which  his  private  letters  from  Constantinople 
gave  him  of  the  ever-growing  influence  exercised  on 
the  Divan  by  the  Russians — took  it  upon  himself  to 
acquaint  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  with  the  mat- 
ter. This  minister,  struck  by  a  state  of  things  the 
gravity  of  which  had  not  been  revealed  to  him  by  his 
agents,  consulted  the  Emperor  on  the  subject.  Napo- 
leon's keen-sightedness,  which  rarely  was  at  fault, 
impressed  him  with  the  necessity  of  having  at  Con- 
stantinople an  ambassador,  whose  word  would  have 
greater  weight  than  that  of  a  simple  charge  d'affaires. 
He  accordingly  immediately  appointed  General  An- 
dreossy  ambassador  to  Turkey.  This  envoy  left  for 
Laybach,  where  he  stopped,  waiting  to  receive  the 
usual  presents  which  he  was  to  take  with  him,  and 
without  which  he  did  not  wish  to  present  himself  be- 
fore the  Turkish  authorities.  In  the  meanwhile  the 
skilful  Russian  diplomacy  had  not  remained  idle;  in- 
trigues and  corruption  had  gained  ground  and  made 
progress,  which  the  authority  of  a  French  ambassador 
would  probably  have  checked.  The  Emperor,  since 
the  month  of  June,  had  not  ceased  insisting  that  Con- 
stantinople should  be  apprised  by  every  means  of  his 
march  against  Russia,  so  as  to  prop  up  the  wavering 
faith  of  the  Divan.  I  will  not  pronounce  on  the  ques- 
tion to  what  cause  the  prolonged  stay  of  Andreossy 
at  Laybach  must  be  attributed.  The  ambassador  left 
it  at  last  and  hastened  on  with  all  diligence,  but  though 
he  accomplished  a  part  of  the  way  at  full  speed,  he 


NAPOLEON    I.  807 

only  managed  to  reach  Therapia  on  July  25th.  A 
fictitious  letter  from  Napoleon  to  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander, proposing  as  the  first  clause  of  a  treaty  of 
peace,  the  division  of  Turkey,  was  put  under  the  eyes 
of  the  Grand  Vizir.  Joseph  Fonton,  a  dragoman 
in  the  pay  of  England,  consulted  by  Ghalib  Effendi, 
attested  the  authenticity  of  this  document.  The  fact 
of  General  Narbonne's  presence  at  Vilna  helped  to 
finally  make  up  the  mind  of  the  Ottoman  minister, 
and  of  the  Sultan,  who  till  then  had  refused  to  ratify 
the  treaty  the  preliminaries  of  which,  signed  by  the 
plenipotentiaries  of  the  Porte  and  of  Russia,  at  Buch- 
arest, May  25th,  had  arrived  in  Constantinople  on 
June  6th.  It  was  only  on  the  following  14th  of 
July  that  the  Sultan  decided  to  ratify  the  treaty  which 
was  to  become  so  fatal  to  us.  The  error,  or  the  treach- 
ery, of  the  Grand  Vizir,  which  had  been  so  prejudi- 
cial to  us  was  punished,  though  not  repaid,  by  the  loss 
of  his  head,  and  the  execution  of  the  perfidious  agents 
who  had  advised  him.  The  ambassador  Andreossy 
only  arrived  in  Constantinople  ten  days  later. 

In  the  course  of  March.  1812.  the  Emperor,  sur- 
mounting the  feeling  of  repulsion  with  which  M.  de 
Talleyrand's  spirit  of  intrigue  had  filled  him  had  the 
idea  of  sending  him  to  Warsaw.  He  approached  him 
confidentially  on  the  subject,  recommending  him  not 
to  mention  it.  Shortly  afterwards  Napoleon  learned 
that  ducats  were  being  bought  at  Vienna  on  account 
of  his  minister,  and  that  the  secret  of  his  mission  had 
become  known.  The  Emperor,  displeased  at  seeing 
his  plan  exposed,  and  considering  this  domestic  ar- 
rangement as  a  proof  of  collusion  and  a  kind  of  stock- 
jobbing speculation  on  the  Viennese  public  funds, 
abandoned  the  choice  he  had  made,  and  appointed 
Abljc  Pradt,  who  had  followed  him  to  Dresden,  in 
Prince  dc  Benevent's  place. 


8o8  MEMOIRS    OF 

The  Emperor  strongly  desired  that  the  contingent 
supplied  by  Austria  should  be  placed  under  the  com- 
mand of  Prince  Scbwarzenberg  who  had  been  ambas- 
sador to  Paris  since  1809;  and  asked  that  the  rank  of 
field-marshal  might  be  given  him  with  this  purpose 
in  view.  As  the  prince  was  one  of  the  youngest  gen- 
erals of  cavalry  in  active  service,  this  request  was 
evaded,  and  some  private  correspondence  ensued  be- 
tween the  two  emperors.  The  Emperor  of  Austria, 
having  alleged  the  rigour  of  military  regulations, 
consented  to  be  agreeable  to  Napoleon,  whilst  taking 
care  to  make  it  known  that  the  nomination  of  Prince 
Charles  Scbwarzenberg  was  only  due  to  his  respect 
for  the  recommendation  of  his  nephew  the  Emperor 
of  the  French. 

The  answer  to  the  messag£  of  reconciliation — with 
which  the  Emperor  had  charged  Colonel  Czernitcheff, 
at  the  time  of  that  officer's  departure  from  Paris  for 
St.  Petersburg — only  arrived  six  weeks  later  at  the 
Tuileries.  It  was  Russia's  ultimatum.  The  following 
were  the  conditions  thereof:  The  Emperor  Alexander 
imposed  on  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  as  an  obligation 
which  must  precede  all  negotiations,  the  evacuation  by 
the  French  troops  of  all  Prussian  states  and  of  Swed- 
ish Pomerania,  that  is  to  say,  the  throwing  open  of 
the  forts  of  the  Oder  and  of  Dantzig  to  the  Russian 
invasion.  These  conditions  having  been  fulfilled, 
Russia  would  consent  to  treat  on  a  basis  which  should 
put  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  admission  of  neutrals 
into  Russian  harbours,  promising  not  to  aggravate 
the  prohibitive  measures  which  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment had  thought  fit  to  decree  for  the  advantage  of 
its  commerce;  the  St.  Petersburg  Cabinet  declared 
itself  ready  to  conclude  an  arrangement  in  favour  of 
Sweden,  and  finally  to  accept,  in  exchange  for  the  sur- 
render of  the  Duchy  of  Oldenburg,  some  equivalent 


NAPOLEON    I.  809 

compensation.  This  notification,  offensive  in  its  form 
rather  than  in  its  contents,  seemed  so  strange  to  Na- 
poleon that  he  suspected  that  it  must  be  the  result  of 
some  intrigue,  like  the  one  which  had  just  resulted 
in  the  banisliment  of  Speranski,  the  privy  councillor, 
llie  injunction  to  evacuate  Gemiany,  without  any 
treaty  having  previously  stipulated  the  terms  of  this 
evacuation,  deeply  wounded  the  Emperor's  pride.  It 
was  with  no  sincere  desire  for  peace  that  the  charac- 
ter and  dignity  of  such  a  sovereign  as  Napoleon  were 
put  to  such  a  test.  In  1806,  the  King  of  Prussia  had 
forgotten  himself  to  the  point  of  notifying  a  similar 
summons  to  him.  Never  had  Napoleon  in  the  course 
of  his  brilliant  victories  dreamed  of  making  such  in- 
sulting demands  on  his  adversaries.  A  note,  drawn 
up  in  the  sense  of  the  proposals  which  we  have  men- 
tioned, was  handed  in  Paris  by  Prince  Kurakin,  the 
Russian  ambassador,  to  Duke  Bassano,  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  who  evaded  all  discussion  on  this 
basis.  Prince  Kurakin  asked  for  an  audience  with 
the  Emperor,  a  request  which  could  not  be  refused. 
The  Emperor  hid  his  resentment.  He  attributed,  he 
said,  the  communications  made  by  the  ambassador 
solely  to  a  misunderstanding,  which  he  was  anxious 
to  clear  up  before  entering  upon  any  explanations,  and 
added  that  he  reserved  to  himself  to  write  on  the  sub- 
ject to  the  Emperor  of  Russia.  Napoleon,  with  this 
object  in  view,  sent  Count  Narbonne  off  to  St.  Peters- 
burg at  once,  charged  with  the  mission  of  endeavour- 
ing to  find  out  the  secret  of  the  Czar's  action,  and  to 
discover  whether  there  remained  no  means  of  coming 
to  an  understanding  with  Russia.  In  Paris  Prince 
Kurakin  pressed  for  the  acceptance  of  his  proposals 
and  demanded  his  passports  in  case  of  refusal,  but 
only  received  evasive  answers  from  M.  de  Bassano. 
Whilst  matters  were  in  this  state  the  Emperor  left 


8io  MEMOIRS    OF 

for  Dresden,  whither  he  was  followed  some  days  later 
by  M.  de  Bassano.  As  to  Prince  Kurakin  he  with- 
drew to  the  country  to  await  his  passports.  These 
were  not  sent  to  him,  so  as  not  to  break  off  all  rela- 
tions with  Russia. 

There  remained  to  Napoleon  nothing  but  to  confide 
the  destiny  of  this  great  undertaking  to  the  most 
splendid  army  which  he  had  ever  put  into  the  field. 
Wishing  to  dispose  of  all  his  forces,  to  strike  a  great 
blow,  and  to  return  promptly  to  Spain  (where  during 
two  years  he  kept  a  detachment  of  his  household  with 
the  chamberlain  Brigode,  equerries,  brigades  of  horses, 
and  pack-mules,  and  an  entire  campaign  outfit)  he 
awaited  the  moment  for  beginning  the  war,  to  which 
he  had  been  forced,  with  confidence  in  his  strength 
and  in  his  right.  He  did  not,  however,  lose  all  hopes 
of  avoiding  it,  and  up  to  the  crossing  of  the  Niemen, 
tried  to  flatter  himself  that  some  arrangement  was 
still  possible.  The  Emperor  took  advantage  of  every 
opportunity  to  reach  Alexander's  heart.  He  had  a 
real  affection  for  this  prince,  and  a  confidence  in  his 
private  character  which  was  not  justified  by  events. 
He  was  convinced  that  an  hour's  conversation  with 
him  in  private  would  end  in  a  complete  understanding. 
Later  on,  when  hostilities  were  at  their  heisfht,  and 
whilst  the  chances  of  war  were  not  yet  unfavourable 
to  him.  Napoleon  ordered  Alexander  to  be  written  to. 
He  even  wrote  to  him  personally  by  every  way,  either 
on  the  occasion  of  the  passage  of  the  flags  of  truce, 
which  the  exchange  of  some  Russian  generals  who 
had  been  taken  prisoners  brought  to  his  headquarters, 
or  under  other  circumstances,  when  for  example  he 
was  trying  to  minimize  the  evils  caused  by  the  bar- 
barity with  which  the  Russians  acted  in  this  most 
murderous  war. 

The   atmosphere   of    the   Court,    the   habit    which 


NAPOLEOxX    I.  8ii 

Marie  Louise  had  of  living  familiarly  with  the  Em- 
peror, who  paid  her  a  great  deal  of  attention,  treated 
her  with  simple  and  affectionate  manners,  and  often 
amused  her  with  a  gaiety  which  was  often  animated, 
had  caused  this  princess  to  forget  the  stiffness  and 
reserve  which  she  owed  to  her  natural  timitlity  at  the 
time  of  her  arrival  in  France.  Her  bearino-  became 
easy ;  she  had  become  somewhat  less  stout,  and  her 
figure,  which  was  of  perfect  symmetry,  had  very  much 
improved.  Fine  eyes,  full  of  sweetnesss,  and  a  beau- 
tifully fresh  complexion  gave  to  her  face  an  agree- 
able expression,  and  rendered  the  ensemble  of  her 
person  both  noble  and  graceful. 

Weighed  down  by  duties  and  cares  on  the  eve  of 
a  rupture  with  Russia,  the  Emperor's  time  was  taken 
up  with  the  multifarious  occupations  of  his  cabinets, 
with  reviews,  and  with  the  work  of  his  ministers.  It 
was  only  with  his  wife  and  his  son  that  he  found 
agreeable  relief  from  so  much  fatigue.  The  little 
leisure  which  his  affairs  left  him  in  the  day-time  was 
spent  with  his  son,  whose  tottering  steps  it  pleased 
him  to  guide  with  quite  a  womanly  care.  The  fre- 
quent falls  of  this  cherished  child  when  they  had  not 
been  prevented  were  greeted  with  caresses  and  loud 
shouts  of  laughter  by  his  father.  The  Empress,  who 
used  to  be  present  at  these  family  scenes,  did  not  take 
so  active  a  part  in  them  as  the  Emperor.  These  three 
persons,  whose  simplicity  might  have  led  one  to  for- 
get their  greatness,  offered  the  spectacle  of  a  middle- 
class  family  attached  to  each  other  by  the  fondest 
affection.  Who  could  then  have  thought  of  the  fate 
which  was  reserved  to  them? 

This  great  man,  whom  so  many  prejudiced  or  mis- 
taken minds  have  been  pleased  to  represent  as  being 
inaccessible  to  any  tender  sentiment,  was  both  a  good 
husband  and  an  excellent  father ;  never  did  the  Empress 


8i2  MEMOIRS    OF 

find  in  him  the  censor  of  her  innocent  whims.  The 
following  anecdote,  which  Marie  Louise  used  to  be 
fond  of  calling  to  mind,  shows  the  good  nature  of 
Napoleon  in  this  respect.  The  remembrance  of  a 
taste,  which  she  had  acquired  in  the  very  homely  sort 
of  life  she  had  led  when  quite  a  girl,  inspired  one  day 
the  Empress  with  a  desire  to  make  an  omelette  her- 
self, and  she  had  had  all  the  necessary  ingredients 
brought  into  her  apartment.  Whilst  completely  taken 
up  with  her  very  important  culinary  operation,  the 
Emperor  entered  without  having  been  announced, 
either  by  chance,  or  because  he  had  heard  from  some 
officious  person  what  was  going  on,  and  wanted  to 
have  the  pleasure  of  surprising  Marie  Louise.  The 
latter,  somewhat  upset  by  this  unexpected  visit,  en- 
deavoured to  prevent  Napoleon  from  seeing  what  she 
was  preparing.  "  What  is  going  on  here  ?  "  asked 
the  Emperor.  "  There  is  a  singular  smell,  as  if  some- 
thing was  being  fried !  "  Then,  stepping  behind  the 
Empress,  he  discovered  the  spirit  lamp,  the  silver  fry- 
ing-pan in  which  the  butter  was  beginning  to  melt, 
the  salad-bowl,  and  the  eggs.  "  What !  "  cries  Napo- 
leon, "  so  you  are  making  an  omelette !  Bah !  you 
don't  know  how  to  do  it  at  all.  I  will  show  you  how 
it  is  to  be  done."  He  then  set  to  work,  the  Empress 
acting  as  his  assistant,  but  he  was  trying  to  teach  an 
assistant  who  knew  more  about  it  than  he  did,  and 
whose  education  had  been  obtained  in  a  very  lofty 
school.  The  Empress's  parents  were  passionately  fond 
of  rustic  occupations,  loving  to  withdraw  into  some 
rustic  home  built  in  the  centre  of  great  imperial  parks, 
and  there,  disguised  as  farmers,  to  attend  to  house- 
hold duties  with  their  children. 

The  omelette,  then,  having  been  finished,  somehow 
or  other,  there  remained  the  important  operation  of 
tossing  it.     Napoleon  wanted  to  do  this  himself;  but 


NAPOLEON    I.  813 

he  had  thought  himself  cleverer  than  he  was.  and  just 
as  he  was  trying  to  toss  the  omelette  there  happened 
to  him  what  happened  to  the  great  Conde,  who  accord- 
ing to  Gourville  wished  to  make  an  omelette  at  an 
inn,  where  he  had  stopped,  and  pitched  it  into  the 
fire  when  trying  to  turn  it.  Napoleon  did  not  succeed 
any  better,  and  let  the  omelette  fall  on  the  ground. 
He  was  then  obliged  to  confess  his  want  of  experience, 
and  left  the  Empress  to  go  on  with  her  cooking  alone. 

In  the  spring  of  18 12  the  Emperor  was  enabled  by 
the  return  of  the  fine  weather  to  add  to  his  family 
amusements  excursions  on  horseback,  and  hunts,  in 
which  the  Empress  followed  him,  either  at  St.  Cloud 
or  at  Rambouillet — residences  of  which  he  was  fond 
because  he  was  surrounded  by  fewer  people,  and  was 
more  at  liberty.  Sometimes  at  break  of  day  he  would 
wake  the  Empress  up  to  go  out  riding  with  her.  To- 
gether with  Marie  Louise  he  would  ride  through  the 
beautiful  woods  which  surround  St.  Cloud.  Some  of 
these  rides  had  a  fixed  and  useful  object,  either  in 
the  direction  of  Paris  or  in  the  surroundings.  On 
some  occasions  the  sovereigns  went  to  pay  a  visit  to 
the  works  of  embellishment  or  improvement  which 
had  been  commanded  by  Napoleon.  The  guardians 
of  these  works  were  sometimes  taken  by  surprise,  fast 
asleep,  by  these  sudden  visits,  and  would  look  at  these 
new  inspectors  with  amazement,  believing  themselves 
in  the  presence  of  a  vision.  As  these  excursions  were 
never  announced  in  advance  the  aide-de-camp  and 
equerry  in  attendance,  together  with  two  or  three  out- 
riders, formed  the  whole  party.  The  Empress  was 
never  accompanied  by  any  of  her  ladies.  Some  of 
these  used  to  meet  her  on  her  return,  or  wait  for  her 
in  her  apartment.  Marie  Louise  used  to  get  into  the 
carriage,  which   followed  them,  when  she  felt  tired, 


8i4  MEMOIRS    OF 

but  this  happened  but  rarely.     The  Emperor  always 
came  back  from  these  excursions,  whether  he  went  out 
alone  or  with  Marie  Louise,  with  some  idea  for  im- 
proving or  perfecting  the  works  in  his  mind.     If  he 
found  on  his  road  some  piece  of  work  to  which  his 
attention  had  been  directed,  he  would  examine  in  per- 
son to  what  an  extent  the  carrying  out  of  such  a  work 
would  be  useful.     At  the  first  glance  Napoleon  would 
take  a  survey  of  the  site,  and  of  the  works  which  had 
been  begun,  forming  a  just  idea  of  the  best  way  in 
which  they  could  be  directed,  of  their  duration,  and 
of  the  expense  which  they  would  occasion.     On  his 
return  he  would  commission  his  ministers  to  call  to- 
gether their  heads  of  departments,  the  engineers,  and 
scientific  men,  and  unite  them  in  a  council  over  which 
he  used  to  preside.     On  hearing  the  reading  of  their 
reports  he  would  apply  to  them  the  first  notions  which 
he  had  gathered  on  the  spot  itself,  having  determined 
in  his  head  in  what  way  the  works  might  be  perfected. 
In  spite  of  the  rapidity  of  his  examination  he  had 
generally  made  himself  as   fully  acquainted  thereby 
with  all  the  details  of  the  work  as  the  specialists,  who 
had  made  it  the  object  of  their  constant  studies,  could 
have  done.     Nature  had  lavished  upon  Napoleon  the 
faculties  which  she  reserves  to  privileged  beings  cre- 
ated to  command,  to  conduct,  and  to  enlighten  man- 
kind.    She  had  endowed  him  with  a  vivid  and  ardent 
imagination,    united    with    a   cold    reasoning   power; 
she  had  endowed  him  with  genius  fortified  by  study, 
which  the  most  prolonged  and  arid  labour  could  not 
wear  out,  and  which,  on  the  contrary,  drew  fresh  stores 
of  vigour  from  the  diversity  of  his  occupations;  she 
had  endowed  him  with  a  vast  mind,  which  embraced 
the  ensemble  of  the  widest  questions,  and  which  de- 
scended to  the  most  minute  details ;  she  had  endowed 
him  with  a  really  extraordinary  conception  to  which 


NAPOLEON    I.  8i^ 

sudden  flashes  revealed  the  deepest  depths  of  human 
knowledge;  she  had  endowed  him  with  a  prodigious 
memory.  To  these  gifts  of  intelligence  there  was 
added  in  Napoleon  a  lofty  and  sensitive  mind,  but  a 
mind  which  was  strongly  tempered,  and  which  rose 
superior  to  the  blows  as  to  the  favours  of  fortune. 
His  sang-froid  was  unalterable  in  the  midst  of  danger 
as  though  he  had  felt  himself  invulnerable.  A  perse- 
vering and  inflexible  will,  an  instinct  of  power  and 
superiority  which  broke  down  all  obstacles,  made  him 
smile  at  the  word  "  impossible,"  or  deny  its  existence. 
The  study  of  the  human  heart  had  taught  him  the  art 
of  attaching  men  to  him,  and  of  subjugating  them. 
His  presence  and  his  language  excited  enthusiasm, 
his  eloquence  was  vivacious  and  rapid,  his  words  were 
energetic,  profound,  and  often  sublime.  His  simple 
exterior — simple,  but  heightened  with  an  air  of 
grandeur  and  by  the  habit  of  command,  the  fascina- 
tion of  his  look — his  look,  whose  sweet  or  severe  ex- 
pression penetrated  to  the  bottom  of  all  hearts,  in- 
spired respect  mingled  with  fear  and  affection.  Never 
was  there  a  more  popular  leader  in  history,  and  yet 
he  would  never  consent  to  lower  himself  to  acquire 
such  popularity.  His  vigilance  was  constantly  on  the 
alert  to  reform  abuses  of  every  kind,  to  discover  means 
of  raising  France  to  the  eminence  where  his  genius 
dreamt  of  placing  her;  at  the  same  time  the  inde- 
fatigable activity  of  his  body  and  mind  induced  him 
to  practise  the  principle  that  one  should  not  let  others 
do  what  one  could  do  oneself.  The  main  feeling  of 
what  is  just  and  what  is  unjust  dominated  within 
him.  So  far  above  other  men,  he  was,  whatever  may 
have  been  said,  superior  to  men's  passions,  he  knew 
how  to  pity  the  weakness  and  the  misery  of  the  hu- 
man heart.  Although  as  a  general  rule  he  was  indul- 
gent toward  faults  and  errors,  he  had  thought  it  some- 


8i6  MEMOIRS    OF 

times  necessary  to  rebuke  severely  in  public  those  who 
had  committed  them,  less  to  punish  those  to  whom  his 
reproaches  were  addressed  than  for  an  example,  and 
to  impress  the  minds  of  those  who  witnessed  these 
scenes.  His  severity  usually  limited  itself  to  this. 
Often  clement  towards  his  adversaries  he  was  reluc- 
tant to  act  against  them,  and  ended  by  becoming  their 
victim.  Those  who  have  represented  his  government 
as  the  type  of  a  military  domination  have  not  noticed 
what  a  little  part  in  the  power  Napoleon,  who  was 
adored  by  the  army,  gave  to  his  lieutenants,  and  with 
what  care  he  maintained  his  soldiers  in  a  state  of  sub- 
mission to  civil  authority.  Endowed  in  the  supremest 
degree  with  military  genius,  the  reputation  of  the  most 
illustrious  captains  pales  before  his,  and  yet  it  is  not 
only  to  the  glory  of  his  army  that  he  owed  his  reputa- 
tion and  his  empire.  He  was  an  administrator,  a  poli- 
tician, a  legislator,  a  writer,  even  a  savant,  and  indeed 
everything  that  he  wished  to  be — as  well  as  a  great  sol- 
dier. The  constant  object  of  his  labours,  of  his  con- 
quests, an  object  which  time  did  not  allow  him  to  at- 
tain, can  be  summed  up  in  one  phrase :  to  assure  to  all 
men  the  full  exercise  and  the  entire  enjoyment  of  all 
their  faculties.  It  was  Napoleon  himself  who  attrib- 
uted to  himself  this  lofty  ambition,  nor  will  posterity 
deny  him  the  merit  of  it.  His  thoughts,  his  actions, 
his  very  ambition  converged  towards  this  lofty  object: 
to  regenerate  the  nations,  to  scatter  broadcast  amongst 
them  opinions  of  progress  together  with  enlighten- 
ment, to  bestow  everywhere  and  on  all  classes  the  in- 
alienable privileges  of  civil  and  political  liberty. 

Preoccupied  with  his  lofty  ambition  and  with  the 
duty  of  protecting  the  future  of  France  against  the 
hatreds  of  the  old-world  Europe,  Napoleon  was  neces- 
sarily forced  in  the  development  of  his  measures  for 
enforcing  his  conceptions  to  clash  with  many  preju- 


NAPOLEON    I.  817 

dices,  and  to  wound  many  and  various  susceptibilities. 
In  putting  aside  the  obstacles  which  impeded  his  on- 
ward march,  he  could  not  help  injuring  many  inter- 
ests of  all  kinds.  Having  fallen  in  the  midst  of  his 
glorious  and  laborious  career,  the  elevation  of  his 
ideas  and  the  object  of  his  plans  have  escaped  the 
eye  of  the  vulgar,  who  only  judge  by  success.  Those 
whom  fortune  has  abandoned  are  generally  judged 
with  but  little  indulgence.  Napoleon  has  remained 
after  his  fall  a  prey  to  attacks  v.hich  are  often  unjust 
and  undeserved.  Even  at  the  time  at  which  I  am  writ- 
ing he  has  not  yet  been  judged  with  sufficient  impar- 
tiality, and  yet  the  hatred  of  him  is  dying  out,  passion 
is  losing  its  force,  prejudices  are  becoming  dissipated, 
and  the  minds  of  men  enlightened. 

The  path  traced  out  by  his  genius,  the  object 
towards  which  he  marched,  will  appear  one  day  freed 
from  the  clouds  which  so  long  had  shrouded  them  in 
darkness.  This  is  what  in  my  opinion,  will  happen  for 
Napoleon,  whose  glory  the  future  can  only  increase. 

In  his  private  relations  Napoleon  was  simple,  nat- 
ural, an  observer  of  forms  towards  himself  as  well  as 
towards  others.  Of  easy  manners  in  his  family  life, 
generous,  and  benevolent,  he  had  orderly  morals, 
religious  sentiments,  and  great  tolerance.  He  was  a 
good  father,  a  good  husband,  a  good  son,  and  a  good 
brother. 

Napoleon  applied  to  the  acts  of  his  public  life  the 
qualities  which  he  had  in  his  private  life  and  which 
were  inherent  to  his  nature.  This  respect  for  moral- 
ity he  exacted  from  his  ministers,  and  from  the 
functionaries  of  State.  Not  only  did  he  seek — in  those 
whom  he  associated  with  his  labours — for  talents  ap- 
propriated to  the  lofty  posts  which  were  entrusted  to 
them,  but  also  a  scrupulous  probity,  a  spirit  of  equity 
and   justice,   and   honourable  morals.      Those   whom 


8i8  MEMOIRS    OF 

the  nature  of  their  functions  put  into  direct  relations 
with  him  distinguished  themselves  b}^  these  qualities, 
with  one  or  two  exceptions  in  the  case  of  men  who 
were  necessary  to  him,  and  who  by  reasons  of  pru- 
dence or  superior  political  motives  could  not  be  defin- 
itely removed  from  his  councils.  Those  who  by  rea- 
son of  the  secondary  importance  of  their  functions 
did  not  approach  his  person  were  none  the  less  the  ob- 
jects of  his  attention.  Abuses,  acts  contrary  to  the 
respect  with  which  he  wished  his  agents  to  be  sur- 
rounded, were  immediately  repressed  by  severe  repri- 
mands, or  punished  by  dismissal.  It  must  be  added 
that  never  was  sovereign  so  well  served,  or  inspired  so 
much  devotion,  never  under  any  reign  were  services 
of  any  and  every  kind  less  exposed  to  hazards,  more 
independent  of  caprice,  or  less  liable  to  be  forgotten. 
Those  who  served  Napoleon  well  were  always  largely 
recompensed. 

On  the  1 8th  Brumaire  the  future  Emperor  had 
found  France  the  prey  to  the  most  fatal  dissensions, 
and  the  care  of  uniting  the  French  in  a  common  inter- 
est of  national  prosperity  and  greatness  became  his 
constant  preoccupation.  Everybody  of  any  value  in 
France,  both  under  the  Consulate  and  the  Empire  was 
summoned  by  the  Head  of  the  Government,  without 
distinction  of  caste  or  of  opinion,  to  help  him  in  the 
task  of  reorganizing  the  State,  of  founding  French 
unity  and  nationality,  and  laying  the  basis  of  that 
vigorous  administration  which  Napoleon  bequeathed 
to  his  successors.  All  citizens,  both  in  civil  and  mili- 
tary life,  seconded  Napoleon  with  zeal  and  fidelity,  for 
the  spirit  and  will  of  the  nation  were  personified  in 
him. 

In  brief,  there  were  united  in  the  same  man  all  the 
great  qualities  which  I  have  only  given  in  outline, 
crowned  with  an  ardent  love  for  his  country. 


NAPOLEON    I.  819 

After  the  signin^t^  of  the  treaties  with  Austria  and 
Prussia  at  the  beginning  of  1812,  of  which  I  have 
already  spoken,  the  Emperor  decided  to  pay  a  visit  to 
Dresden  before  proccecHng  to  the  army.  He  proposed 
to  assemble  his  allies  there.  He  had  not  yet  given  up 
all  hope  of  avoiding  the  great  struggle  which  was 
preparing.  Napoleon  spoke  to  the  Empress  of  his 
intention  of  inviting  the  Emperor  of  Austria  to  meet 
him  in  the  capital  of  the  King  of  Saxony.  The  Em- 
press Marie  Louise  received  this  proposal  with  great 
pleasure,  for  it  was  her  warmest  wish  to  see  her 
father  and  her  family,  with  whom  she  kept  up  a  regu- 
lar correspondence,  once  more. 

In  consequence  Count  Otto,  our  ambassador  in 
Vienna,  was  commissioned  to  invite  the  Emperor 
Francis  to  come  to  Dresden  with  the  Empress  and  the 
Archdukes  and  Archduchesses,  brothers  and  sisters 
of  Marie  Louise,  who  looked  forward  with  pleasure  to 
spending  some  days  with  them. 

The  necessity  of  coping  with  the  serious  difficulties 
caused  by  the  lack  of  wheat,  with  which  France  was 
threatened,  delayed  the  Emperor's  departure  to  Dres- 
den for  a  month.  Since  181 1  the  scarcity  of  wheat 
had  been  felt,  and  this  scarcity  had  developed  towards 
the  beginning  of  18 12  in  a  manner  to  cause  anxiety. 
Extraordinary  measures,  and  an  allotment  of  25.000,- 
000  francs  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  the  price  of 
bread,  ample  daily  distributions  of  cheap  soups,  and 
above  all  the  promise  of  a  good  harvest,  dispelled  this 
danger.  The  Emperor  displayed  under  these  circum- 
stances the  activity  which  he  knew  how  to  apj^ly  to 
all  things.  Every  two  days  he  presided  over  councils 
of  maintenance,  to  wln'ch  he  summoned  comj^etent 
men,  and  his  solicitude  and  foresight  extended  to  the 
minutest  details  of  the  question. 

At  the  time  of  engaging  in  a  distant  and  hazardous 


820  MEMOIRS    OF 

expedition,  the  Emperor  feared  that  during  an  ab- 
sence which  might  be  prolonged,  the  EngHsh,  whose 
ships  were  cruising  before  Genoa,  might  attempt  to 
forcibly  remove  the  Pope  from  Savona,  in  order  to 
make  of  the  Head  of  the  Catholic  Church  a  docile 
instrument  in  their  hands,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  their 
hands  were  the  hands  of  heretics.  With  a  view  of 
providing  against  this  eventuality  he  ordered  that  the 
Holy  Father  should  be  invited  to  go  to  Fontainebleau, 
in  order  to  remove  him  out  of  the  sphere  of  English 
intrigues.  At  the  same  time  Napoleon  summoned  the 
Archbishop  of  Edessa  to  Fontainebleau,  thinking  that 
the  society  of  this  prelate,  who  was  much  liked  by  the 
Pope,  would  be  both  agreeable  and  useful  to  His  Holi- 
ness. 

The  Emperor  had  sent  M.  de  Montholon,  who  was 
the  son-in-law  of  Senator  Semonville,  to  Wiirtzburg 
as  plenipotentiary  minister,  because,  as  he  thought,  the 
court  of  the  Grand-Duke  would  be  to  the  French 
envoy  a  mirror  in  which  he  could  see  the  reflection 
of  all  that  was  going  on  in  Vienna.  Prince  Ferdinand 
of  Austria,  formerly  Grand-Duke  of  Tuscany,  who 
had  been  dispossessed  of  his  States  by  the  treaty  of 
Luneville,  had  obtained  in  exchange  for  the  Duchy 
of  Salzburg,  the  Grand-Duchy  of  Wiirtzburg,  in  vir- 
tue of  a  clause  of  the  treaty  of  1809.  He  had  come  to 
Paris  as  a  member  of  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine 
to  be  present  at  the  marriage  of  his  niece  Marie  Lou- 
ise, He  stayed  rather  a  long  time  in  Paris,  and  lived 
in  the  intimacy  of  the  imperial  family  and  court.  The 
object  for  which  M.  de  Montholon  was  sent  was  to  a 
certain  extent  realized,  for  the  new  ambassador  gave 
useful  information  on  the  internal  state  of  things  in 
Austria  and  Germany. 

Count  Montholon  had  passed  through  a  brilliant 
military  career.    His  services  previous  to  the  day  of 


NAPOLEON    I.  821 

Brumaire  i8th,  and  his  co-operation  on  that  same  day, 
had  been  recompensed  with  the  gift  of  the  sword  of 
honour.  He  was  obHged  to  renounce  his  mihtary 
career  temporarily,  in  consequence  of  wounds  and  bad 
health.  He  then  became  chamberlain  to  the  Emperor, 
and  was  entrusted  with  various  missions,  in  which  he 
knew  how  to  display  his  skill.  His  diplomatic  career 
was  however  suddenly  interrupted  by  a  marriage  which 
displeased  Napoleon.  General  Montholon,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  durins:  his  visit  to  Wi'irtzbursf,  and  without 
the  knowledge  of  his  family,  married  a  woman  who 
had  been  twice  divorced,  and  whose  two  husbands 
were  still  living.  The  Emperor  had  refused  his  con- 
sent to  this  marriage ;  but,  during  his  stay  in  Dresden, 
he  granted  M.  Montholon  permission  to  marry  the 
niece  of  President  Seguier,  because  he  had  forgotten 
that  the  lady  in  question  was  the  identical  person 
whose  marriage  he  had  refused  to  authorize.  Napo- 
leon, however,  was  soon  made  acquainted  with  the 
true  state  of  things,  and  refused  to  allow  the  divorced 
woman  to  be  presented  at  the  Court  of  Wiirtzburg. 
and  this  out  of  consideration  for  the  susceptibility  of 
the  small  German  courts,  which  in  this  case  at  least 
was  very  excusable.  General  Montholon,  in  conse- 
quence, was  ordered  to  retire  immediately  from  his 
place,  and  to  return  to  Paris  forthwith.  The  Emper- 
or's resentment,  however,  was  not  longlived.  Count 
Montholon  very  soon  re-entered  the  service  and  was 
entrusted  with  the  command  of  a  department.  On 
Napoleon's  return  from  the  Island  of  Elba,  this  faith- 
ful servant  made  haste  to  go  and  meet  him,  attached 
himself  entirely  to  his  person,  and  in  the  end,  to- 
gether with  his  wife  and  children,  followed  him  to 
St.  Helena,  where,  until  the  very  end,  he  gave  the  Em- 
peror touching  proofs  of  the  most  absolute  devotion. 


822  MEMOIRS    OF 

Before  leaving  Paris  the  Emperor,  according  to  his 
custom,  had  despatched  all  matters  which  were  behind- 
hand, or  which  were  awaiting  his  decision.  He  had 
established  an  order  of  service  in  virtue  of  which  the 
government  was  confided  during  his  absence  to  the 
Council  of  Ministers,  presided  over  by  the  Arch-Chan- 
cellor Cambaceres.  An  auditor  charged  with  the  min- 
ister's portfolio  was  sent  each  week  to  the  Minister 
Secretary  of  State,  who  always  accompanied  the  Em- 
peror. The  Minister  of  Police  himself  wrote  every 
day.  Napoleon  also  used  to  receive  confidential  let- 
ters or  notes  from  persons  who  were  not  employed  in 
the  government  but  who  were  authorized  or  permitted 
to  write  to  him,  as  the  readers  have  seen,  on  matters 
of  home  politics,  on  the  state  of  the  public  opinion, 
and  even  on  literary  subjects.  Although  distant  800 
or  900  leagues  from,  Paris,  Napoleon  governed  the 
Empire  as  though  he  were  present.  The  Empress  was 
at  that  time  only  charged  with  the  representative  part 
of  the  functions.  She  used  to  go  to  mass  every 
Sunday,  and  all  persons  who  had  been  presented  at 
Court  were  allowed  to  be  present  on  these  occasions. 
After  mass  she  used  to  walk  round  the  gallery  which 
led  into  the  chapel  and  converse  with  everybody  pres- 
ent. She  used  also  to  receive  on  certain  grand  occa- 
sions. At  such  times  her  timidity  was  noticeable  and 
the  efforts  which  she  made  to  surmount  this  timidity 
gave  her  an  embarrassed  bearing.  The  persons  of 
both  sexes  whose  names  were  registered  on  the  lists 
of  entrees  were  admitted  every  evening  to  her  recep- 
tions. 

It  w-as  the  Emperor  who  had  drawn  up  this  list,  and 
he  had  taken  care  to  select  persons  who  were  agree- 
able to  the  Empress.  The  consequence  was,  that  at 
these  drawing-rooms  she  was  perfectly  at  her  ease,  and 
did  the  honours  with  much  grace  and  natural  manners. 


NAPOLEON    I.  823 

Slie  used  to  play  at  billiards  with  persons  whom  she 
selected.  Whist  tables  were  set  up  for  form  in  her 
drawing-room,  and  the  evenings  terminated  with  a 
concert  or  theatrical  performance. 

On  May  9th.  1S12,  the  Emperor  and  Empress  left 
St.  Cloud,  and  arrived  at  Mayence  on  the  14th,  where 
they  stayed.  Their  Majesties  saw  the  Grand-Duke 
and  Grand-Duchess  of  Hesse-Darmstadt.  The  jour- 
ney from  Mayence  to  Dresden  was  one  unbroken  tri- 
umphal procession,  and  the  princes  of  the  Confedera- 
tion of  the  Rhine,  whose  States  were  passed  through 
by  the  Erench  sovereigns,  received  them  as  their  Suze- 
rains, and  showed  them  the  hospitality  of  grand-vas- 
sals. Many  e\en  came  to  wait  for  them  on  the  road, 
amongst  others  the  King  of  Wiirtemburg.  and  the 
Grand-Duke  of  Baden.  It  would  be  a  mistake  to 
fancy  that  the  Emperor  expected  his  hosts  to  pay  for 
his  entertainment  and  that  of  his  suite.  Napoleon  did 
not  wish  his  visits  to  give  trouble  to  anybody.  He 
was  preceded  and  followed  by  his  household,  together 
with  all  that  was  necessary  for  a  life  of  great  display. 
Some  leagues  from  Dresden  he  met  the  King  of  Sax- 
ony, who  had  come  to  meet  him.  accompanied  by  his 
Queen.  The  Emperor  and  Empress  made  their  en- 
trance into  Dresden,  with  Their  Saxon  Majesties,  by 
torchlight.  On  the  morrow  the  Emperor  and  Em- 
press of  Austria,  and  the  Archdukes  also  arrived  at 
Dresden,  and  were  followed  in  turn  by  the  Queen  of 
Westphalia  (the  King  had  already  gone  to  join  the 
army),  the  Grand-Duke  of  Wiirtzburg,  the  King  and 
Crown  Prince  of  Prussia,  and  many  of  the  princes  of 
the  Confederation,  the  principal  ministers,  and  amongst 
others  MM.  de  llardenberg  and  Metternich. 

The  Emperor  I'rancis  embraced  Napoleon  with 
visible  emotion.  The  Empress  of  Austria  and  the 
Archdukes    received    Marie   Louise    with    an   ardour 


824  MEMOIRS    OF 

which  was  mingled  with  respect.  The  King  of  Prus- 
sia presented  the  Crown  Prince  to  the  Emperor,  and 
begged  him  to  allow  him  to  follow  him  as  aide-de- 
camp, and  at  the  same  time  begged  the  Emperor's 
aides-de-camp  to  bestow  their  friendship  on  his  son. 

The  period  of  Napoleon's  stay  in  Dresden,  in  1812, 
marks  the  apogee  of  his  power.  Words  are  wanting 
to  describe  the  effect  which  his  presence  produced 
there.  Never  perhaps  has  human  greatness  reached 
so  high  a  point.  It  has  been  said  that  Napoleon  at 
Dresden  was  the  Agamemnon,  king  of  kings  :  it  was  to 
his  intellectual  superiority  almost  as  much  as  to  his 
power  that  at  that  time  these  spontaneous  manifesta- 
tions of  respect  and  consideration  were  addressed. 
An  emperor,  kings,  and  sovereign  princes,  stood  at 
his  side  as  courtiers  rather  than  as  peers.  The  Em- 
peror of  Austria  was  forgotten  in  Napoleon's  pres- 
ence, and  the  latter  had  to  efface  himself  to  draw  at- 
tention to  a  Prince  whose  illustrious  son-in-law  cen- 
tred all  attention  on  himself.  It  must  not  be  judged 
from  their  attitude  that  the  Emperor  of  Austria  and 
the  King  of  Prussia  were  sincere  in  their  demonstra- 
tions towards  the  man  who  had  conquered  them.  If 
these  princes  had  been  able  for  the  moment  to  forget 
their  secret  grudges  they  had  near  their  persons  clever 
ministers  who  would  have  taken  it  upon  themselves 
to  remind  them  of  their  grievances.  The  Empress  of 
Austria,  a  well-read  and  intelligent  woman,  came  to 
Dresden  armed  with  her  dignity  as  a  beautiful  woman 
and  as  an  Empress,  full  of  prejudices  against  the  man 
to  whom  the  Austrian  monarchy  owed  its  greatest 
humiliation.  Marie  Louise's  young  step-mother  came 
determined  to  resist  the  general  enthusiasm,  and  to 
hold  herself  in  a  reserve  which  should  fringe  on  con- 
tempt. In  a  ver}^  short  time  she  had  yielded  to  the 
influence  which  Napoleon  exercised  on  all.    I  had  fre- 


NAPOLEOX    L  825 

quent  opportunities  of  observing  the  aspect  of  these 
august  assembhes.  and  I  have  contemplated  the  royal 
assembly,  of  which  Napoleon  was  the  head,  in  the  vast 
apartment  of  the  Palace  at  Dresden.  The  Empress  of 
Austria  was  in  such  poor  health  that  she  was  unable 
to  support  the  fatigue  of  walking  a  long  distance 
in  the  apartment.  The  Emperor  used  to  go  to  meet 
her,  holding  his  hat  in  one  hand,  the  other  hand  rest- 
ing on  the  door  of  the  Sedan  chair,  in  which  the  Em- 
press was  being  carried,  talking  to  her  in  a  cheerful 
manner.  The  Empress  seemed  to  take  an  interest  in 
his  conversation  and  showed  her  interest  by  the  atten- 
tion with  which  she  listened  to,  and  answered  him. 
All  those  who  were  present  at  these  moments  agree 
in  saying  that  Napoleon  exercised  an  irresistible  as- 
cendency o\'er  his  noble  hosts,  as  much  by  the  agree- 
ableness  of  his  wit.  as  by  the  seduction  of  his  manners. 
One  might  have  said  that  this  extraordinary  man  had, 
since  his  youth,  carried  the  weight  of  a  great  empire 
on  his  shoulders,  so  well  did  he  know  how  to  support 
the  dignity  of  his  rank  by  his  tone  and  by  his  manners. 
Penetrating  and  profound  as  was  his  intelligence,  no- 
thing escaped  his  observing  eye.  Perfect  tact,  and  a 
delicate  instinct  of  what  was  due  to  all,  were  wedded 
in  this  exceptional  mind  to  maturity  and  education, 
and  this  assembly  of  superior  qualities  rendered  him 
the  most  amiable  and  charming  of  men  when  he  chose 
to  show  himself  as  such. 

The  first  idea  of  the  journey  to  Dresden  had  arisen 
from  Marie  Louise's  desire  to  see  her  family  again 
and  be  once  more  in  the  midst  of  her  people.  The 
presence  of  the  Emperor  of  Austria  at  Dresden  neces- 
sarily entailed  also  the  presence  of  the  King  of  Prus- 
sia, who  was  cfjually  the  ally  of  France  in  the  war 
which  was  being  prepared.  Napoleon's  principal  rea- 
son  in  assembling  the  kings  and  the  princes  of  the 


826  MEMOIRS    OF 

Confederation  of  the  Rhine  had  been  to  show  Russia 
how  strong  were  the  bonds  which  united  these  differ- 
ent princes  to  the  system  of  the  French  Empire,  The 
Emperor  had  not  despaired  of  impressing  Russia  and 
of  leading  this  power  to  less  bellicose  feelings  by 
means  of  this  display  of  a  close  alliance  with  the  sov- 
ereigns of  the  whole  of  Germany,  together  with  a 
display  of  considerable  forces.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
and  I  cannot  repeat  this  too  often.  Napoleon  was 
entering  upon  this  war  with  extreme  reluctance,  and 
until  the  very  last  moment  in  his  heart  of  hearts  he 
hoped  to  be  able  to  avoid  it.  Before  leaving  Paris  the 
Emperor  had  sent  General  Narbonne,  his  aide-de- 
camp, to  St.  Petersburg.  Having  no  news  of  General 
Narbonne  at  Dresden,  and  hearing  that  the  Emperor 
Alexander  had  arrived  at  Vilna,  he  sent  word  to 
Count  Lauriston,  his  ambassador,  to  proceed  to  this 
city  and  to  address  himself  to  the  Czar  directly.  Na- 
poleon accordingly,  it  cannot  be  denied,  fostered  a 
feeble  hope  that  the  difficulties  might  yet  be  overcome. 
He  loved  to  think  that  reflection  having  enlightened 
Alexander  the  latter  would  be  inclined  to  withdraw 
the  strong  summons  addressed  by  the  Russian  Cabinet 
to  the  French  Government,  ordering  us  to  evacuate 
the  territory  occupied  by  our  armies  before  any  nego- 
tiations or  pourparlers  had  taken  place.  General 
Lauriston  was  not  even  able  to  obtain  authorization 
to  go  to  Vilna,  and  as  to  Count  Narbonne  he  returned 
to  Dresden  on  May  24th,  only  five  days  before  the 
Emperor's  departure.  He  had  been  received  by  the 
Russian  sovereign,  but  he  had  not  found  him  at  all 
inclined  to  make  any  alteration  in  his  views.  The 
cold  and  inflexible  attitude  of  this  prince,  his  reserve, 
his  perseverance  in  unacceptable  demands,  convinced 
Napoleon  that  the  Czar  had  made  up  his  mind,  and 
that  he  had  engaged  himself  towards  England  too  far 


NAPOLEON    I.  827 

to  be  able  to  draw  back  any  more.  Unable  any  longer 
to  deceive  himself  as  to  the  iiselessness  of  his  attempts 
at  reconciliation,  the  Emperor  sent  orders  to  Paris 
that  Prince  Kurakin's  passport  should  be  returned  to 
'him.  The  Duke  de  Bassano's  letter,  which  was  sent 
with  these  passports,  was  so  worded  that  the  ambas- 
sador of  Russia  could  not  but  see  that  the  insistence 
with  which  he  had  asked  for  them  could  no  longer 
be  considered  in  any  other  light  than  as  a  declaration 
of  war. 

In  the  midst  of  imposing  fetes,  drawing-rooms,  and 
balls,  in  Dresden,  had  it  not  been  known  that  there 
were  stationed  around  us  500.000  men  ready  to  enter 
the  arena,  one  would  have  thought  neither  of  war  nor 
of  the  great  events  which  were  preparing — events  in 
which  each  one  of  the  actors  took  a  particular  and 
very  different  interest. 

Amongst  the  persons  in  the  suite  of  the  Emperor 
of  Austria  was  a  man  vested  with  the  title  of  cham- 
berlain, who  made  himself  known  in  military  com- 
mands, in  diplomatic  missions,  but  who  passed  un- 
noticed in  the  royal  and  princely  crowd.  This  man 
was  General  Count  Neipperg.  The  Empress  Marie 
Louise  saw  him  there  for  the  first  time,  without  attach- 
ing the  slightest  importance  to  his  presence.  How- 
ever, as  she  was  going  to  the  theatre  room  with  the 
Emperor,  she  addressed  some  words  to  this  general 
because  he  happened  to  be  standing  in  her  way.  How 
impenetrable  are  the  designs  of  God!  These  three 
persons,  whom  the  festivities  of  Dresden  had  drawn 
together,  in  such  different  ranks,  were  far  from 
suspecting  at  that  time  the  part  which  the  most 
humble  amongst  them  was  destined  to  play  in  the 
future. 

On  May  29th  the  Empress  Marie  Louise  was  the 
only  one  of  the  guests  who  remained  in  Dresden.    The 


828  MEMOIRS    OF 

Emperor  Napoleon  had  left  her  on  that  day  to  join 
the  army.  The  Emperor  and  Empress  of  Austria  had 
set  out  for  Prague  the  same  day  themselves,  to  hurry 
on  the  preparations  for  the  reception  of  their  daugh- 
ter and  step-daughter.  On  the  evening  before,  the 
King  of  Prussia  and  the  Crown  Prince  had  left  to  re- 
turn to  Berlin.  Marie  Louise  remained  in  Dresden 
alone  for  some  days,  and  left  on  June  4th  for  Prague. 
Her  journey  was  an  uninterrupted  triumph,  she  was 
complimented  on  the  Austrian  frontier;  she  was  re- 
ceived under  triumphal  arches,  and  escorted  by  numer- 
ous squadrons  of  cavalry  in  full  uniform.  The  Em- 
peror and  Empress  came  to  meet  her,  and  conducted 
her  to  Prague,  which  she  entered  to  the  sound  of  can- 
non, and  church  bells.  The  civil  and  religious  author- 
ities, the  court,  and  the  leading  nobility  of  the  prov- 
inces were  presented  to  her.  The  Emperor  and  Em- 
press of  Austria  gave  precedence  to  Marie  Louise 
both  at  table  and  in  the  carriages,  and  everywhere  she 
was  received  with  the  honours  which  were  reserved 
for  the  Austrian  sovereigns  on  gala  days.  This  stay 
at  Prague  lasted  more  than  three  weeks,  and  every 
day  was  taken  up  with  banquets,  balls,  excursions,  il- 
luminations, or  theatrical  performances.  Alternate 
receptions  were  held  at  the  palace  of  the  Emperor  of 
Austria,  and  at  the  palace  of  the  Empress  Marie  Lou- 
ise. Nothing  was  wanting  in  the  honours  lavished  on 
Napoleon's  wife  on  Austrian  territory.  It  might  have 
been  said  that  the  family  of  Hapsburg,  in  harmony 
with  fortune,  was  saluting  with  a  final  and  splendid 
homage  the  man  whose  star  was  so  soon  to  wane,  and 
at  last  to  go  out — to  be  altogether  extinguished. 

In  the  midst  of  these  enjoyments  Marie  Louise 
never  for  a  moment  forgot  the  Emperor,  and  used  to 
write  to  him  every  day.  On  June  25th  she  wrote  the 
following  letter  to  Napoleon's  mother : — 


NAPOLEON    I.  829 

"Prague^  June  25//1,  1812. 
"The  Emperor  is  wonderfully  well.  He  is  still  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Koiiigsberg,  always  busy,  always 
on  horseback,  and  all  the  better  for  it.  The  only  com- 
fort which  I  have  during  his  absence  is  to  think  that 
the  fatigue  which  he  endures  gives  me  no  reason  to 
fear  for  his  health.  He  writes  to  me  very  often,  and 
each  day  that  I  receive  a  letter  from  him  is  a  day  of 
happiness  for  me.  .  .  .  Nothing  can  console  me  for  the 
Emperor's  absence,  not  even  the  presence  of  all  my 
family." 

On  Jul}-  ist,  the  Empress  Marie  Louise  left  Prague 
with  her  father,  who  accompanied  her  as  far  as  Carls- 
bad, and  on  the  i8th  she  was  back  again  at  St.  Cloud. 

In  the  meantime  Napoleon  visited  Glogau,  Posen, 
Thorn,  Dantzig,  and  Konigsberg,  in  turn.  During 
his  stay  in  the  latter  city  the  Emperor  held  a  great 
review  in  the  plain  of  Friedland,  which  reminded 
him  of  one  of  his  most  splendid  triumphs.  He  in- 
spected the  various  army  corps,  and  conducted  them 
to  the  Niemen  which  was  crossed  on  June  24th.  On 
the  22nd  of  the  same  month  a  proclamation,  dated 
from  W'ilkovicki,  had  announced  the  declaration  of 
war  on  Russia.  On  the  25th  of  May  previously,  this 
power  had  endeavoured  to  sign  the  treaty  of  Bucharest 
with  the  Porte,  and  on  the  29th  of  the  same  month, 
had  declared  all  its  ports  open  to  ships  of  all  nations, 
which  meant  to  say  that  they  were  open  to  English 
trade. 

On  the  morrow  of  the  day  on  which  the  proclama- 
tion of  Wilkovicki  had  been  entered  on  the  order  of 
the  day,  Napoleon  went  to  reconnoitre  in  person  which 
point  on  the  Niemen  was  most  favourable  to  cross- 
ing. He  put  a  hood  over  his  coat,  and  placed  on  his 
head  the  forage  cap  of  one  of  the  Polish  Light  Cavalry 


830  MEMOIRS    OF 

of  the  Guard.  Three  bridges  were  thrown  over  the 
river,  near  Kowno,  by  his  orders,  and  it  was  by  these 
bridges  that  the  army  crossed  the  river  in  the  night 
of  the  23rd  June,  and  during  the  whole  following 
day.  After  the  Niemen  had  been  crossed,  and  during 
the  march  from  Kowno  to  Vilna,  no  Russian  soldiers 
were  met  with,  except  some  light  troops  near  the 
latter  town,  which  was  entered  by  the  French  without 
any  fighting.  The  weather  had  changed  suddenly  after 
the  crossing  of  the  Niemen,  and  the  rain,  which  fell 
in  torrents,  inundated  the  roads,  and  this  disorganized 
all  the  army  transport  service.  The  Emperor  entered 
Vilna  on  June  28th,  and  he  was  received  there  like 
a  liberator,  and  as  the  restorer  of  Polish  independence. 
I  will  now  speak  of  an  incident  which  happened  to  a 
Polish  squadron,  and  which  occurred  whilst  crossing 
a  small  river.  I  do  so  because  the  losses  which  it  is 
alleged  were  suffered  by  these  squadrons  have  been 
stated  with  a  great  deal  of  exaggeration.  The  bridge 
having  broken  down,  the  Poles  bravely  swam  across 
the  river — which  was  much  swollen  by  the  rain — in 
the  way  practised  by  the  Tartars.  Their  loss  amounted 
to  one  light  cavalryman,  who  was  carried  away  by  the 
current,  separated  from  his  comrades,  and  drowned. 

The  Emperor  Alexander  had  left  Vilna  three  days 
previously  to  join  his  headquarters  at  Sventziani. 

The  narrative  of  the  military  events  of  the  Russian 
campaign  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  work. 
Conscientious  historians  have  already  fulfilled  this 
task  with  impartiality.  Memoirs  which  are  still  un- 
published will  relate  all  the  occurrences  which  took 
place,  and  make  all  the  conduct  of  this  fatal  war 
better  known.  The  majority  of  writers  who  have 
undertaken  to  relate  them  have  not  justified  their  mis- 
sion with  sufficient  impartiality.  One  animated  with 
hostile  sentiments  against  the  fallen  Imperial  Govern- 


NAPOLEOX    I.  831 

ment  has  in  his  narrative  shown  all  the  ardour  of  his 
hatred  and  all  the  injustice  of  his  prejudices.  Another 
devoted  to  the  Bourbon  Government  has  tried  to  offer 
them  a  sacrifice  of  the  great  victim.  A  third,  seeing 
in  the  events  of  this  war  the  subject  of  a  sombre  epic, 
which  tempted  his  literary  ambition,  has  strained  his 
dreamy  imagination  to  compose  a  drama,  which  by 
the  manner  of  its  exposure,  its  action,  and  its  denoue- 
ment, should  realize  the  object  which  he  had  pro- 
posed to  himself  to  attain.  Although  the  causes  and 
the  combinations  of  this  memorable  expedition  were  in 
part  unknown  to  him,  the  author  has  known  how  to 
suit  them  to  the  object  he  had  in  view  {cegri 
somnia).  His  melancholy  genius  took  pleasure  in 
painting,  in  the  blackest  colours,  misfortunes  which 
were  cruel  enough  to  need  no  exaggeration  and  to  ex- 
cite the  minds  of  men,  already  struck  with  this  im- 
mense catastrophe,  those  deep  emotions  of  which  the 
human  heart  is  so  greedy. 

The  mission  of  the  Russian  general,  Balakoff,  at 
Vilna,  the  object  of  which  is  hardly  known,  was  a 
preliminary  of  this  fatal  war,  and  was  perhaps  its 
most  certain  precursor.  The  Emperor  of  Russia  had 
received  Count  Narbonne  at  Vilna,  in  a  manner  which 
dispelled  all  hopes  for  the  preservation  of  peace.  He 
had  moreover  refused  to  see  Count  Lauriston,  our 
ambassador,  and  even  to  allow  his  Prime  Minister  to 
confer  with  him.  War  had  already  begun.  Napoleon 
was  already  in  the  centre  of  Lithuania,  all  communica- 
tions seemed  broken  off  between  the  two  States,  when 
the  arrival  of  a  Russian  officer  at  the  Imperial  head- 
quarters excited  general  surprise,  and  brought  l)ack  a 
ray  of  hope.  This  general  officer.  Minister  of  Police, 
whose  mission  no  doubt  was  purely  one  of  observation, 
bore  an  autograph  letter  from  tbe  Emperor  of  Russia 
to  Napoleon.     In  this  letter  Alexander  complained  of 


832  NAPOLEON  I. 

the  violation  of  his  frontiers,  declaring  that  "  Prince 
Kurakin  had  not  been  authorized  to  ask  for  the  return 
of  his  credentials,  that  if  this  was  the  reason  why  the 
Emperor  had  considered  himself  at  war  with  him  it 
was  a  great  misunderstanding,  that  if  Napoleon  was 
content  to  withdraw  his  troops  from  Russian  territory, 
he  was  prepared  to  shut  his  eyes  to  what  had  happened, 
and  that  an  arrangement  was  still  possible."  The  Em- 
peror, comparing  this  step  taken  by  Russia  with  the  in- 
sistence with  which  Prince  Kurakin  had  demanded  his 
passports  in  Paris,  with  Alexander's  refusal  to  listen 
to  our  ambassador,  and  the  cold  reception  which  he 
had  awarded  to  Count  Narbonne  at  Vilna,  was  greatly 
surprised  at  this  so  tardy  a  communication.  He,  how- 
ever, asked  the  Russian  envoy  if  he  had  powers,  and 
offered  to  treat  for  peace  then  and  there.  General 
Balakoff  had  neither  instructions  nor  powers.  His 
mission  was  limited  to  renewing  the  injunction  which 
had  been  made  in  Paris  by  Prince  Kurakin,  and  to  de- 
mand the  evacuation  of  the  territories.  The  Emperor, 
concealing  the  resentment  which  he  felt  on  the  receipt 
of  a  notification  which  he  was  unable  to  define,  re- 
ceived the  bearer  thereof  very  well,  spoke  to  him  of 
his  master  in  a  friendly  way  and  with  interest,  but 
could  not  but  consider  Alexander's  message  as  a  mes- 
sage intended  to  humiliate  him,  the  effect  of  which  had 
been  well  calculated  by  those  who  had  advised  it. 


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